For a Better Future
by suqarquills
Summary: NEW CHAPTER! A characters reading the books fic! Set at the end of Prisoner of Azkaban, Dobby finds a strange letter and a book which he is instructed to take to the Shrieking Shack. There he finds Harry and co.
1. Chapter 1

**Before starting, I have to point out that there will be no lines from the actual book in this. It will focus on their reactions from the end of each chapter. It begins in Prisoner of Azkaban, after Peter's true identity has been revealed.**

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 **For a Better Future**

 **Chapter One**

'One of us ought to Stun him before we leave.'

Sirius Black stepped forward. A triumphant grin spread across his gaunt, hollowed out face; his eyes, once lifeless and dull from years of imprisonment, now gleamed with hope. He had been waiting twelve years for this day; he was going to savour each moment.

'Allow me,' he said, his wand already in hand and pointing to the traitor's chest. 'Stupefy.'

The effect was instantaneous. Peter Pettigrew's eyes rolled back in to his head and he slumped to the ground with a loud, audible _thud_.

'That's going to leave a bruise or two,' said Sirius happily. 'Oh well.'

This was the beginning of everything. In mere moments they would be walking through the castle doors, Pettigrew in tow, and not one person from there on would be able to doubt the truth. Sirius Orion Black was innocent. Being reckless and consumed with grief were the only things Sirius was guilty of and, as far as he was aware, neither of those constituted a crime.

'What are we going to do with Snape? Should we wake him up?' Harry asked, standing over the unconscious form of his Potion's professor. Not that he was in any rush to have him conscious again considering it was he who had caused his state due to an overenthusiastic delivery of a disarming spell. Snape was going to be royally pissed off once he woke up.

'Let's leave him here.'

'Sirius!' Remus rolled his eyes. Nothing would ever quench the rivalry between those two; always would be just a bunch of children. 'I think perhaps it would be best to wait until we're back in the castle before we revive him. Let's get the truth out first.'

'I can't believe we attacked a teacher,' Hermione repeated for what seemed like the hundredth time since.

'This coming from the same girl who once set him on _fire_ ,' Ron reminded her with a smile that quickly turned in to a wince as pain shot through his broken leg.

Sirius, noting the hurt on Ron's face, looked at him with genuine guilt and remorse. 'I'm sorry about your leg. I really was aiming for the rat.'

Ron grunted and nodded in acknowledgement. It was still difficult for him to process that his rat, who he had allowed to sleep in his bed with him, and who he had confided in his deepest and darkest secrets, had actually been an Animagus this entire time, and a man he had been led to believe was a mass murdering, raving lunatic, was in fact innocent and the godfather to his best friend.

'But,' Sirius continued, rounding on Hermione, his voice giddy with excitement; his eyes gleaming with mirth. Sirius looked as though Christmas had come early. 'I do want to hear more about you setting your teacher on fire. I knew there was a reason I was starting to like you.'

Before Hermione had a chance to defend her actions, conversation was interrupted by a loud, deafening _crack_ and the sudden appearance of a house-elf in the centre of the room. Immediately, the two adults in the room raised their wands, ready to strike before -

'Dobby?'

Harry recognised the house-elf as the one who had repeatedly attempted to save his life the previous year.

'So _this_ is Dobby,' said Ron at the same time that Sirius said, 'You know this house-elf, Harry?'

'Yeah, he and I met last year.'

Their first meeting had almost gotten Harry murdered by his Uncle Vernon. Dobby had ruined one of the most important evening's of Uncle Vernon's career by dropping the cake Aunt Petunia had spent that entire day working on making perfect for their guests on to Uncle Vernon's boss' wife. Harry had been threatened within an inch of his life that evening. What happened next resulted in Harry's bedroom window being concealed with bars and his door locked, with him only being allowed out twice a day to stretch his legs and use the bathroom. Food was pushed through a cat flap that had recently been installed by Uncle Vernon. Dobby had been desperate to keep Harry safe, although they had different ideas of what safe meant.

'What are you doing here, Dobby?' Harry asked suspiciously.

'Dobby has come to deliver a message to Harry Potter,' said the house-elf proudly, puffing out his small, thin chest, which was concealed in a mass of woolly jumpers. It was odd seeing him in clothes, but it was an improvement on the filthy cloth he had worn previously whilst under the servitude of the Malfoy family.

Harry's eyes narrowed. He was used to Dobby's messages. Aside from almost having his uncle murder him, Dobby had caused Harry and Ron to miss the train to school, thus resulting in having them fly an enchanted car to school, which ended up crashing in to the most volatile tree on the grounds, as well as having his arm broken later on in the year thanks to a rogue Bludger Dobby had sent after him and only him. It was down to Harry's above average skill in flying that he only ended up with a broken arm and not decapitated or worse. For as much as he appreciated the effort Dobby went to, Harry did not think he would be able to survive another life saving attempt.

'Not to be rude or anything, Dobby, but you're not trying to save my life again, are you?'

Dobby blinked sheepishly and gave a small smile that did nothing to quell the discomfort settling in Harry's belly. 'Dobby had the most peculiar message waiting for him this afternoon.'

It did not go unnoticed by Harry that Dobby carefully avoided his question.

'Dobby found a letter along with a book all about Harry Potter. The letter instructed Dobby to take the book to Harry Potter at this specific time for Harry Potter and his friends must read the book or else Harry Potter and friends will not be able to change the future.'

Harry's heart was pounding. A book from the future about him? This was impossible. If there was one thing his Divination classes had taught him it was that no one could predict the future.

'Who was the letter from?' Sirius barked out; his wand still raised. Twelve years in Azkaban had not squashed out the importance of constant vigilance.

For the first time since he had appeared, Dobby looked away from Harry's face. As soon as his gaze landed on Sirius, his green, tennis ball sized eyes widened, and he let out a squeak of terror.

'Dobby,' Harry said loudly and firmly. He was beginning to feel impatient. He needed to hear more about this book and who had sent them. 'It's okay. Sirius is not an evil murderer. He's actually my godfather.'

Sirius' eyes softened. His wand wavered in his hand. 'You know?'

'Oh yeah, I accidentally overheard Professor McGonagall tell the Minister for Magic about it,' Harry admitted, his face flushed red.

'I can understand if you want to keep living with your aunt and uncle, but if you ever want a new home, once my name has been cleared of course...' Sirius trailed off, clearing his throat roughly.

Was he overstepping his boundaries? Harry had only been convinced of his innocence for five minutes, whereas he had lived twelve years with Petunia and what's his name. With their capture of Wormtail, the Ministry would have no reason not to incarcerate him (If he was being honest, Sirius was hoping for a Dementor's Kiss) and clear Sirius of all convicted charges. Once that was all done and dusted, and the Ministry granted his pardon (could he demand a personalised apology from the Minister?), then he could focus on rebuilding the life he had been denied all these years, and that started with Harry.

Harry was speechless. He was taken back to those moments while he was holed up in the small cupboard under the stairs which had once been his bedroom. When his stomach had been growling because he had been denied food for the day, and when he had been covered in urine because no matter how hard he tried to he could not hold it in for longer than a few hours, Harry had been wishing for someone to come save him, to rescue him from the prison he was in; for someone to knock on the front door to tell him he had some other family besides the Dursley's. It was all making his head spin.

'Let's talk more about this later,' Remus suggested. 'We have other matters to attend to right now.'

Sirius nodded. A broad smile spread across his face. Was he really going to get his chance to make amends with his godson? As curious as he was about the books, Sirius really wanted to make a beeline for the school, with Wormtail in tow, and get his innocence finally declared. It was the only thing standing in between his freedom.

'Did the letter say who had sent the book?' Remus asked Dobby kindly.

Dobby shook his head. 'No, sir. There was no name on the letter, which Dobby found most peculiar. The letter only instructed Dobby to bring the book to Harry Potter and friends.'

'At a specific time? Right now?' Remus clarified.

Dobby nodded. 'It said it was important to bring the book to Harry Potter and friends.'

'Where is the book now?' Sirius questioned, his voice was softer, yet still rather gruff.

His past experiences with house-elves were not pleasant. It was understandable considering the one he had grown up with had attempted to kill him a few dozen times as a child. The feelings were mutual. However suspicious he was of Dobby, he was also giving him the benefit of the doubt since he did trust Harry's judgement. If it weren't for Harry, Sirius would not have been given the opportunity to explain his side of the story.

Dobby snapped his fingers once. With another loud _crack_ , materialising out of thin air to the ground in front of Dobby's feet, came a rather large book. Unease replaced the discomfort in his stomach as he caught sight of the front cover and, more importantly, the title: **Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire**. The first question that sprung to mind was what in Merlin's name was a "Goblet of Fire" and what significance did it have to him?

Remus moved towards the book. He knelt down to pick it up, wiping off the dust that had formed. 'Goblet of Fire,' he murmured, his brows furrowed. The name sounded familiar to him, he was sure he had heard of it before, but he could not place where or when.

'How do we know we can trust this book?' Hermione piped up quietly, her face turning scarlet as they all turned to stare at her. She took a breath and continued on confidently. 'Dobby turns up with a letter from an unknown source and a book that details the future so we can change it. Doesn't it seem a bit unusual to anyone else? How can we trust what it says?'

'Very true, Hermione,' Remus agreed. He aimed the wand he had been gripping tightly in his right hand at the book. 'There are a few charms and spells I can do to deem it trustworthy or not.'

The five of them watched as Remus went to work. There was a part of Harry who hoped it would prove untrustworthy; he was unsure how he felt about having parts of his life broadcast in front of the others in the room. He trusted Ron and Hermione with almost everything, and although Sirius was his godfather and Remus was his favourite teacher, he did not entirely trust them. Who knew what information the book would hold.

'I can't find anything wrong with it,' Remus announced a few minutes later.

Harry's heart sank.

'It seems to be... safe.'

'We're not really going to read it, are we?' Harry asked quickly.

'I don't see why not,' Sirius said, oblivious to the discomfort Harry was clearly in. 'Although I would like to read the letter you found, Dobby, and see what it says for myself, if you don't mind.'

Sirius was expecting Dobby to hand him the letter. Instead, the house-elf burst into tears. Sirius rolled his eyes; these house-elves were all the same; bloody nutters, that's what they were.

'Harry Potter's godfather is too kind to Dobby,' the elf wept, blowing his nose on his jumper.

'He gets like this sometimes,' Harry informed them matter-of-factly.

'All I asked was if I could read the bloody letter.'

'You asked him if he minded,' Harry explained. 'Dobby isn't used to being treated with kindness. He used to serve the Malfoy family, who weren't particularly nice to him. He views what you said to him as kind.'

'The Malfoy's are not kind to anyone,' Sirius said darkly. 'They're as bad as a family can get. It's all Voldemort this and Voldemort that with them all. Lucius must have lost everything once Voldemort disappeared that night.'

'Actually, Lucius claimed he was under the Imperius Curse and gave a particularly lump sum of money charitably to the Ministry to fund a new ward for St. Mungo's,' Remus chuckled sardonically, shaking his head. Money trumped truth. That was the unfortunate way politics worked; for as long as you were wealthy, you could get away with anything, as in Lucius Malfoy's case. These days he was extremely chummy with the Minister for Magic. Remus had to hand it to the Malfoy patriarch, he kept his friends close but his enemies closer. It was an interesting strategy and one that seemed to work for him.

'Makes sense as to why he never joined me in the house of horrors,' Sirius said angrily. It frustrated him that he was thrown in to Azkaban without so much as a hearing, let alone a trial, and then there were the Lucius Malfoy's of the world who could bribe their way free.

'Dobby, please calm down,' Hermione urged kindly, but the tone in which she spoke to him caused him to wail even more. 'Dobby, please.'

'Bloody nutter,' Sirius reiterated under his breath.

'Dobby!' Remus said firmly in what Sirius would have called his "teacher voice". It used to terrify both James and Sirius whenever he would use it on them, which was quite frequent when they had been students. Remus was of the belief if you get your work done first, you would enjoy your free time more than if you had to rush last minute to get all work completed before the next lesson. James and Sirius had other ideas.

Immediately, Dobby's weeping halted. With a trembling hand, Dobby reached inside his jumper. Harry frowned, wondering what he was doing, until he saw there was a pouch hidden beneath the mass of wool covering his torso. Out from the pouch came a letter. The letter of the hour.

Sirius snatched the letter out of Dobby's hand, unfolded it, and began to read out loud:

 _'"Dear Dobby, this is a matter of urgency. You need to take this book to Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Severus Snape. It is very important they_ all _read it. Take the book to approximately 7:46pm in the Shrieking Shack on the outskirts of Hogsmeade village. There you will find them all. Once they have read the first book, another will follow. Once they have completed that book, then another will follow that one, until they have all read a total of four books. The books will help them to change the future for the better. Good luck."_

'Hang on, there's also a side note at the bottom. It says -

 _'"Don't forget it's a full moon tonight."'_

Remus' eyes widened; his heart hammering in his chest - he had forgotten his potion tonight. He could recall it sitting on his desk, waiting until it was time for him to take it, but he had been too preoccupied with the map, and when he saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione leave Gryffindor Tower and head down to the school grounds, he became compelled to watch, his eyes never straying from the map he had worked hard to help create so many years ago. Then he saw Peter's name on the map, as Harry had claimed he had seen before, proving an old friend was still alive. The map, after all, never lies. With all that in mind, taking the Wolfsbane potion had been demoted in his list of priorities, a decision he was currently severely regretting. His transformation tonight was going to be a rough one; they always were when he was not in control.

Remus looked at the battered watch on his wrist. It was almost eight. The sun was almost due to set, and the moon would be in full view. It was not safe for any of them to be there.

'You all need to go right now.' Remus' eyes locked with Sirius, who understood the urgency of the situation.

'Kids, this is not a joke. I need you all to get out of here. Wait for me by the base of the tree.'

'Professor Lupin, Mr Black, what are we going to do with, um, him?' Hermione asked, gesturing to the corner of the room where the unconscious form of Peter Pettigrew had just been left, still bound in his shackles.

'I almost forgot about him for a moment,' Sirius chuckled sardonically.

'Sirius will handle him and Professor Snape,' said Remus kindly, although his grey eyes were sharp. 'I need you both to quickly take Ron and leave before I transform. I didn't take my Wolfsbane potion tonight - it keeps me sane during transformations - so tonight I will not be in control, the wolf will. I do not want you to see this, and I do not want to hurt you. You have to go.'

'Sirius -'

'Harry,' his godfather said gently, 'it's going to be okay. Take Ron and go.'

Harry took a deep breath. The whole night had gotten more bizarre by the minute. A convicted mass murderer for a godfather had turned out to be innocent; a supposedly dead person turned out to be his best friend's rat; and now a werewolf teacher about to transform. It could all only happen in a magical school. Harry's life would certainly be a little less interesting had he attended Stonewall High as he believed he was going to when he turned eleven.

With Hermione on Ron's left side, and Harry on his right, together the pair of them heaved the injured red-head on to his feet, and as quickly as they could while half-carrying Ron, they strode across the Shrieking Shack and exited the room. Harry gave one last glance at his godfather before the three of them descended the stairs.

'Dobby,' Sirius said, turning to the house-elf, 'can you go alert Professor Dumbledore?'

'Dobby will do whatever Harry Potter's godfather requests of Dobby.'

'Good. Now I need you to go and tell him to meet Professor Snape on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Tell him Professor Snape has something urgent to tell him. But do not tell him about me. It's important he doesn't know anything about me yet. Okay, Dobby?'

With a nod of his head and click of his fingers, Dobby disappeared with a _crack._

'And now to wake him up,' Sirius said with distaste. If it were up to him, he would leave him there; the world could use a little less Death Eater scum, and no amount of lies spun to the Headmaster could convince Sirius the greasy haired traitor had defected to their side. Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater. However, Sirius had already made the mistake of almost getting Snape killed by Remus in werewolf form, and it had almost cost him his friendship with both Remus and James. The time neither of them would speak to him was one of the darkest in his life; if Azkaban hadn't happened, it would have taken top place. Sirius could not go through that again.

'You can go back to your petty quarreling later, just get him out of here,' Remus snapped.

'Oi, Snivellus, wake up,' Sirius said, kicking the Potion's Master not too gently in the ribs.

It took a couple of attempts to rouse him; Harry had delivered one powerful disarming spell.

'Back to the land of the living then,' Sirius said as Severus opened his eyes. 'Shame.'

'Black!' Severus snarled, quickly groping around for his wand.

'Save your breath, you can bitch at me later. We don't have time for it now. Tonight's a full moon and Remus forgot to take his potion, although if you ask me it's probably a good thing, I wouldn't be surprised if you poisoned it -'

'Sirius!' Remus warned. It was always the same thing with those two.

'Anyway, he forgot his potion and he's going to be transforming into a big, bad werewolf any moment, so we need to get out of here. I've got the kids waiting for me by the base of the tree, and Dobby the house-elf has been sent to alert Dumbledore to meet us by the Forbidden Forest, so that we can finally get the truth set straight and my freedom finalised once and for all. Then, once he's human again, we all get to read a suspicious book from the future.'

'Black, what in Merlin's name are you going on about...' Severus trailed off as his gaze wandered from the convicted murderer to the big lump in the corner of the room. 'Is that Peter Pettigrew?'

It couldn't be... could it? Perhaps he had hit his head harder than he thought he had. The Potter brat would be paying for this one, he would almost guarantee it. How dare he attack a teacher. The Headmaster would be hearing about this; he might finally be able to open the old man's eyes to the fact Potter was almost identical to his father in every single way.

Remus let out a long sigh. 'Severus, please, there's no time to fully explain the situation right now, just know that he is telling the truth. He didn't betray James and Lily, and he never killed anyone. It was all Peter. Now I know there's no love lost between the two of you, but please take the children and go to the Forbidden Forest. Sirius will explain everything to you then.'

Severus merely nodded once in acknowledgement, before walking passed Sirius, their shoulders colliding with more force than was necessary, and exited the room without a backwards glance.

'You could have helped me with this lump,' Sirius shouted after him, rolling his eyes. It was always down to him to do the dirty work. Sirius pointed his wand at the traitorous rat. As though he was a puppet on strings, Wormtail's body snapped up, hovering a few inches off the ground.

'You better get a move on,' Remus instructed urgently.

Sirius started to move towards the door; Wormtail floated on in front of him. With a flick of his wand, Wormtail knocked in to the door frame. Sirius grinned. 'My hand slipped, my bad.'

Remus shook his head. Sure it did.

'Good luck, Moony.'

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	2. Chapter 2

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 **Chapter Two**

As soon as Harry pressed the knot at the base of the tree, the Whomping Willow immediately became immobilised, allowing the three of them to climb out of the passageway that lead to and from the Shrieking Shack safely. The three of them sat concealed behind the tree as they waited for Sirius to return. Harry's heart was sprinting inside his chest, his fingers drumming impatiently against his legs, as he waited for his godfather. The moon was now full overhead; any minute, his Defence Against the Dark Arts professor was going to transform in to a werewolf and Sirius was still there with him. Harry had decided that if Sirius was not there in five minutes, then he would go back in after him.

'He's going to be okay,' Hermione said quietly, not breaking her concentration as she attended to Ron's broken leg. They had managed to get the bleeding to stop, but they needed the healing hands of the school matron, Madam Pomfrey; she could mend bones in a heartbeat.

Harry sighed long and heavy, his eyes transfixed on the passageway. That evening when he had gone in to the Shrieking Shack to save Ron from the crazed, feral dog, he had no idea that it would turn in to this, although he should have expected something to happen. Every year since he had begun attending Hogwarts, there was always an event that took place which thrust Harry into immediate danger, albeit by his own choice most of the times. Then again, he couldn't in good conscience, allow who he thought was Snape to steal the Philosopher's Stone for Voldemort, giving him immortality, and he certainly could not allow Lockhart to single handedly go down in to the Chamber of Secrets blindly without first divulging the information Harry, Ron, and Hermione had discovered about the monster inside the chamber. It was lucky he and Ron went to tell Lockhart, for they had found him packing to leave; the fraud was going to leave Ginny to die at the bottom of the chamber and wipe their memories. Who else was going to prevent these from happening? Despite having a relatively Voldemort free twelve months, the end of his third year was beginning to shape up like the previous two.

'What do you think about this book malarkey?' Ron asked in an attempt to change the subject.

'I'm not sure,' Hermione said, frowning. 'Professor Lupin tested it and it came up clean.'

Ron gaped at her. 'I thought you would be the first one to say time travel was impossible, that the book was clearly the subject of dark magic and we should alert Dumbledore straight away. Are you trusting the teacher who lied to us the entire year?'

'Can you blame him? Look at the way I get treated because I'm a Muggleborn. Imagine what they would do to someone like Professor Lupin. It doesn't take away the fact he's a brilliant teacher. Besides, Dumbledore would not allow him to teach if he thought he was dangerous.'

Hermione thought it best not to mention the Time-Turner she had been given at the beginning of the year considering she had promised Professor McGonagall to keep it a secret from everyone and that included her two best friends.

Ron considered her point for a moment before conceding. 'I suppose you're right. What do you think the book is about?'

'It's about me.'

The subject of the book made Harry feel both uncomfortable and curious. It was about him in the future; a part of him was interested in reading it to see what happens to him, to see where his life goes, but what made him uncomfortable was having other people read it, too. Was it written in first, second, or third person? He would not be at all pleased if people read his future thoughts. Who would do this to him? Who sent the book?

'I know that, but I meant what's a Goblet of Fire?'

'No idea. Ask Hermione.'

'Hermione?'

'I'm not entirely sure,' Hermione admitted, going through an inventory of all books she had ever read, and all the conversations she'd had with teachers. She came up blank. 'It sounds familiar. I know I've heard of it before, but I cannot seem to recall where I've heard it.'

'Probably in a book in the library,' Ron snorted, which earned him a glare. 'Tell me I'm wrong.'

Hermione ignored him. Ron could be a complete arse sometimes.

Voices could be heard coming from the passageway.

'Sirius...'

Harry leapt to his feet at once, walking several steps over to the entrance. His heartbeat increased; if it started to beat any faster, it would leap out from his chest. It was surprising no one could see it beating underneath his t-shirt. A hand clad in deep black robes emerged from the passageway entrance. Harry swallowed hard and stepped backwards out of the way. Sirius wasn't wearing black - Snape was. This was one encounter he was not looking forward to.

One by one, with Snape in the lead, both he and Sirius clambered out of the hole, with Pettigrew being shoved out the hole not very gently at all, still stunned from the spell Sirius had cast. Snape was wiping the dirt off his robes and glaring at Sirius so intently as though he thought simply glaring at him would cause imminent death.

'Where's Professor Lupin?' Hermione asked with concern in her voice.

Sirius gazed up at the night sky; it was clear with thousands upon thousands of stars glistening. Sirius was bright that night. 'Probably transformed by now. He'll be okay; he's used to it. We need to keep clear from this area for a while, just in case.'

'Will he escape?' Hermione asked, her voice trembling slightly.

She did like Professor Lupin, but she knew that he had no control over what he was, and a part of her felt guilty for accusing him of helping Sirius in the castle and basically saying she did not trust him because he was a werewolf. If anyone knew what it felt like to be prejudiced against it would be Hermione, and she knew how terrible it made her felt when people told her she was less of a witch because she was born to Muggle parents. Professor Lupin was the best Defence Against the Darks Arts teacher they had ever had, for starters he didn't have You-Know-Who on the back of his head and didn't take credit for work and achievements other witches and wizards had done. They were finally learning something in his classes. Being a werewolf didn't detract from that at all.

'No, he never has, even before he had the Wolfsbane Potion,' Sirius assured her with a weak smile. He was also worried about Remus. It had been a long time since his old friend transformed without the aid of the Wolfsbane Potion; he hoped Remus wouldn't be too hurt in the morning. 'We can't do anything for him at the moment, we just have to wait for the sun to come up. But we do have other matters to attend to.'

'What are we going to do with him?' Harry asked, his attention turned to the real monster of the night - the man who had betrayed his parents.

It was a foreign concept to Harry. He tried to imagine himself in Pettigrew's shoes, but he was failing. There was no part of him that could ever comprehend betraying either Ron or Hermione, the only two people he currently thought of as family. Regardless of if anything happened between either of them and their friendships ceased as a result, Harry would still never betray them, and would certainly never mark them for death. How did a man who was a friend, closer than a brother, go from all of that to being a Death Eater? His excuse that he was terrified of Voldemort was weak. Harry was scared of what Voldemort could do (only slightly so as he had failed three time to murder him now), but he would never in all of his life choose to give himself up or give himself over to Voldemort. Pettigrew was a weak coward and Harry couldn't feel it in himself to feel even one drop of pity for him.

'Dobby's gone to alert Dumbledore,' Sirius explained. 'He's going to meet us at the border of the forest, but I gave Dobby strict instructions to tell Dumbledore he's going to meet Snape so he doesn't alert the Dementors, just yet anyway,' Sirius trailed off glancing pointedly at Wormtail and grinning wickedly. He will get what's coming for him soon enough.

Harry nodded, satisfied. Dumbledore would make sure the truth came out; he would make sure Sirius got the pardon he deserved from the Ministry.

'Before we go,' Sirius turned to face Ron, 'you should probably get to the hospital wing before that leg gets any worse. Harry, Hermione, will you take him.'

'I want to stay with you,' Harry said automatically. He didn't want to let Sirius out of his sight, not before his innocence was declared, otherwise how was he to distinguish this between the dreams he used to have all those years ago back in his tiny cupboard under the stairs. He also didn't know if Sirius would make it there alive with Snape...

'The three of you go. Ron and I will be okay,' Hermione added, almost pleadingly to Sirius. 'We'll be in and out. Madam Pomfrey can mend bones quicker than anyone else.'

'Are you sure?' Harry asked a bit guiltily for immediately passing his injured friend over for the man he had just met that night.

Ron nodded in acknowledgement. 'It's okay, mate. This is important to you. Like Hermione said, we'll be in and out and we'll meet you in the common room later.'

Sirius moved so that he was standing directly in front of Harry, and he placed his hand on his godson's shoulder. His heart was bursting with pride, not just for Harry but for the three of was the sort of thing he, James, and Remus would have done for the others. It warmed Sirius' heart that Harry had friends as loyal and caring as Ron and Hermione were showing themselves to be. While there had been a bad egg in their quartet (he should have realised; rat in his Animagus form, rat in his human form), the friendship between Harry, Ron, and Hermione appeared strong, and that was what Harry needed and deserved. The three of them were every bit as close as Sirius was with James and Remus, and Sirius knew Prongs and Lily would have been delighted at Harry's choice of friends.

'Come on, the sooner we get to Dumbledore, the sooner we can hand over this useless piece of wasted life and let the world know who really betrayed your parents.'

Harry nodded. The sooner that happened, the sooner Sirius' innocence would be declared. 'I'll see you later.' And he allowed Sirius to steer him away from his friends.

Severus had barely been watching the scene before him. His mind had been wandering off. It very rarely happened as he had been taught to never let his guard down, by both the Dark Lord and Dumbledore personally. When his guard was down, he was sloppy, and sloppiness is what usually ends up getting people killed. But his guard had been down tonight. First, it had enabled Potter to get a spell in and render him unconscious. Secondly, he had missed what had happened between then and now. What had happened? Where had Peter Pettigrew appeared from?

Peter Pettigrew, dim witted, utterly spineless, a pathetic excuse for a wizard riding on the brilliance of others much more clever, much more brave, and much more cunning. How had this same person been able to hide successfully for twelve years? Lily was dead because of him. The tireless lengths Severus went to to ensure Lily's survival had been in vain. What had been the motive behind Pettigrew's decision? Seething hatred bubbled to the surface. Severus was going to happily watch the fear and desperation in Pettigrew as he attempted to pitifully spare his life as the Dementor's edged closer and closer to him until they were close enough to perform the kiss. It was said to be unbearable to witness, but Severus was stronger than that.

It took a while for Severus to realise he was moving. They were already nearing the edge of the Forbidden Forest. It was like he was being possessed; his legs were moving before he had a chance to catch up. Potter and Black were taking point with Pettigrew floating along beside them.

They were getting closer. Close enough that Severus could clearly make out the powder blue robes and matching hat and the pure white beard that Albus Dumbledore sported. Severus heard Potter's breaths increase, and watched as a frail, bony hand belonging to Black moved to gently squeeze Potter's upper arm.

The old coot gave nothing away as they approached. Albus had always excelled at hiding what was really going on.

'Professor Dumbledore, Sirius is innocent. It was Peter Pettigrew.' The words tumbled out of Potter's mouth loudly and quickly. He wanted to get them out before Albus had a chance to stop him that it was almost impossible to decipher what he was saying. Luckily, Severus had the misfortune to teach bumbling baffoons on a daily basis who were also inept at speaking carefully and articulately.

Albus barely had a chance to adjust to what he was seeing. Sirius Black, walking side by side with Harry Potter, with his Potion's Master skulking behind, and an unconscious, floating dead man among them. It had all started with the appearance of a house-elf, who was rather insistent that he go down to the edge of the Forbidden Forest and meet Severus, who had a matter of great importance to discuss with him. That was the first sign things were not as they seemed, as Severus was usually quite comfortable discussing matters inside Albus' office.

Clearly, the situation was not as it seemed. Albus remembered every student who had passed through the great doors of Hogwarts while he was Headmaster, and there was no possible way his eyes were deceiving him. Peter Pettigrew was in front of him.

But how?

'Albus, you've got to believe us,' Sirius said quickly and urgently. He had to make his former Headmaster realise the truth. He _would_ not go back to Azkaban as long as he had breath still in his lungs. 'I will take Veritaserum if I have to. Severus can get some. All I ask is that you listen.'

Dumbledore's eyes were steel. 'I'm listening.'

'I admit I was James and Lily's Secret Keeper, but _not_ on the night they died. We switched. It was a brilliant plan in theory. The only problem is we chose the wrong person. We believed the wrong person to be the spy and I will never, ever be able to make that up to him. We suspected Remus. I should have begun to see it then, the dirty little rat was the one who planted the idea in our heads.

'You can guess who we made the Secret Keeper, huh? It was Peter. The first person Voldemort would have gone after was me. I was James' best friend. We were inseparable. More than friends; we were brothers. The plan was, while Voldemort came after me and tried to torture me for their whereabouts, I would not be able to give them up because I would not be their Secret Keeper. Nobody would ever suspect the wizard who could barely turn a matchstick in to a needle. What we didn't realise was Peter had already switched allegiances. He was a Death Eater.

'I had a bad feeling that night, so I went to check on him, and he wasn't there. There had been no sign of a struggle, so I headed straight for Godric's Hollow. What met me there was a sight I would never forget and I never have. My best friend and his wife were dead at twenty-one and their son was orphaned, still in his cot, with a lightning shaped scar on his forehead.'

 _Twenty-one_. Harry swallowed hard; his parents had only been young, barely out of their teens. Harry had not known this. There was so much he still didn't know about his parents, like their birthdays. Aunt Petunia would never speak about them to him, other than to drum in to his head they were both alcoholics who had gotten themselves killed whilst driving. Now he had both Sirius and Professor Lupin. They would be able to shed more light on who Harry's parents had truly been.

'Then Hagrid turned up, explaining how he had instruction from you to take Harry to safety. I knew Harry would be in good hands with Hagrid. It was better for Harry that he not be with me. I realise now I had been reckless. When I saw them lying there, eyes open and lifeless - ' Sirius stopped and took a deep, steadying breath. Even twelve years later it was still difficult to talk about. The Dementors force a person to relive their worst nightmares. For the better part of twelve years, Sirius had to relive the moment his heart was torn in two, over and over again. It never fully healed.

As difficult as it was for him to talk about it, Sirius knew it must have been difficult for Harry to hear. Sirius reached out to his godson, placing a protective hand on his shoulder, then proceeded to continue with his tale.

'All I could think about was avenging them. I tracked Peter down in the middle of a crowded Muggle street. The dirty rat was one step ahead. He yelled about how I was the one to betray them and how could I have done this to them. Everyone thinks what happened next was _me_ blowing up the street and killing those Muggles, but it wasn't. It was _him_. It was Peter. He was the one to perform the spell before I had a chance to do anything. He sliced off his finger, transformed in to a rat, and disappeared down the sewers.'

'Are you saying Peter Pettigrew was an Animagus?' Dumbledore questioned sharply.

'We all were, that being James, Peter, and I. You won't find us on the legal register. It started during our second year at Hogwarts. We discovered Remus' secret of being a werewolf. It didn't take long to piece it together. He disappeared every month around the same time and came back with various wounds and injuries. Something more was going on. Werewolves were dangerous to other humans, but animals were a different matter. It took a lot of time and many failed attempts before, finally, we each managed to transform. James was a stag, I am a dog, and Peter can transform in to a rat.'

'He was hiding as Ron's pet rat, sir,' Harry explained. 'You can ask Ron and Hermione. They were both there, too. So was Snape.'

'That's _Professor_ Snape to you Potter,' Severus hissed at the mannerless brat.

Harry rolled his eyes. He had no time for this right now.

'I can confirm Potter is correct in saying Mr Weasley and Miss Granger were both there tonight, and are currently in the hospital wing attending to Weasley's broken leg.'

'That was an accident,' Sirius pointed out earnestly. 'I really was aiming for the rat in his hand. Ron had such a tight grip on the thing, I had to bring him with me. I had no other choice.'

' _Please,_ Professor Dumbledore, you have to believe us. Sirius _is_ innocent.'

Dumbledore held up a hand to silence Harry further.

'I believe you.'

'But - wait, you do?'

Harry had not been prepared for it to happen this quickly. He had prepared many arguments for their case.

'Yes, Harry, I do. However, I am merely human and I do also make mistakes so I will prefer to confirm this story. There are a few simple ways we can do this. For one thing, Polyjuice Potion, which as a third year you would not have been taught about yet. Polyjuice Potion allows another person to take the form of another. It does not allow animal transformations. If, by some chance, this person in front of us is an imposter, he will not be able to turn in to Mr Pettigrew's Animagus form.'

Severus snorted. Potter and his friends knew _all_ about Polyjuice Potion. While he had not caught them red handed, supplies had been stolen from his personal store cupboard, and he just knew it was Potter, Weasley, and Granger behind it. The three of them were always up to no good.

'Another way to confirm the man in front of us in indeed Peter Pettigrew is by Veritaserum, the truth potion,' Dumbledore continued musingly.

'A few drops of Veritaserum will have even Voldemort spilling his most dark and dangerous secrets,' Sirius explained to a confused looking Harry.

'It is very powerful,' Dumbledore agreed. 'And it is what I shall be using tonight, all depending on if our expert has a supply he will be willing to part with.'

'I have an abundant amount brewed two moons ago from my seventh year class,' Severus spoke directly to Dumbledore.

'I ask you to make haste and return to my office.'

Severus nodded once in acknowledgement, then with one final icy glare at Black and Potter, and with his cloak billowing in the slight summer breeze, he turned on his heels and headed for the castle.

'And now, we must return to my office without you being seen. It will not do to create mass panic among the students and faculty if they see a convict and a dead man roaming the halls.'

'What's your plan?' Sirius asked.

Dumbledore did not answer him directly. In a clear and commanding voice, he called out in to the night, 'Dobby.'

As he had done several hours previously that night, Dobby appeared once again with a loud _crack_.

'Professor Dumbledore called for Dobby, sir,' the house-elf said, bowing low in front of the Headmaster.

'I did,' Dumbledore said kindly. 'I have a request to ask of you.'

Dobby's eyes went wide. 'Professor Dumbledore, one of the greatest wizards, has a request to make of Dobby. Anything, Professor Dumbledore, sir, anything at all, Dobby will oblige.'

Dumbledore smiled. 'Thank you, Dobby. Will you take Harry and Mr Black here to my office, then return back for myself and Mr Pettigrew? I believe that would be best.'

'Of course, Professor Dumbledore, it will be my honour.'

Dobby was so excited, he looked, to Harry, like he was going to wet himself. Harry couldn't resist a smile himself at the house-elf. Compare him to a year ago and he seemed almost like an entirely different elf; he was more confident and, without a doubt, much happier. It warmed Harry's heart knowing Dobby was safely away from the cruel treatment he had received while under the servitude of the Malfoy family.

'So, how does this work then?' Harry asked curiously.

'Harry Potter must take my hand,' Dobby informed him, stretching out said limb for Harry to take. It was cool to touch.

Sirius moved so that he was standing directly behind Dobby, and brought up one had so that it was gripping Dobby's back, and moved the other hand so that it was resting on Harry's shoulder.

'See you in a tick,' said Sirius mere moments before Dobby clicked the fingers on his free hand.

Harry had travelled via Floo Powder and would have said that was his most uncomfortable mode of transportation up until this point in time. Thankfully he had his eyes closed, otherwise he was sure he would hurled up right there and then. His stomach was flipping and flopping inside him, and he made no guarantee that he would not vomit at some point. It felt like his entire insides had been squeezed to fit inside a much smaller person, then stretched out again.

It was the sound of Sirius' chuckle that caused Harry to open his eyes.

'You should probably sit down, you're looking a little green there,' his godfather said to him, throwing an arm around his shoulder and guiding him to one of the squishy armchairs in front of Dumbledore's desk. 'It takes a little getting used to. Most people vomit the first time. Your dad did. He used to get motion sickness. Strangely enough, being on a broomstick didn't affect him. He much preferred to fly than anything else.'

'Me too,' Harry said, his voice coming out much more hoarse than he had intended.

'Is Harry Potter okay?' Dobby asked, concern in his voice and etched on his face.

Harry gave him an assuring smile. 'I'm fine. I've never done that before. Apparently this is normal.'

Dobby bowed his head, his eyes drooping, looking sheepish. 'Dobby should have warned Harry Potter.'

'No, no,' Harry said quickly, knowing what was about to happen. He did not want to explain to Dumbledore why Dobby has broken one of his precious antiques.

'You did nothing wrong,' Sirius reassured the house-elf gently. 'This is normal for the human body. Harry here is just a bit of a lightweight when it comes to this, just like his father.'

Harry glared at his godfather, but could not resist a smile when the older man winked at him. Having a godfather was weird. On one hand, Harry felt like he had known him his entire life, then on the other, there was so much unfamiliarity to this sitation; he had never known a parental figure other than Mr and Mrs Weasley, and even then he had barely spent time with them. This felt slightly different; he felt more comfortable around Sirius than he did them, perhaps it was due to Sirius' connection to his parents.

'I'll look after Harry. You best go fetch Dumbledore.'

Dobby bowed low once again, then with another loud _crack_ , he disappeared.

'This is it,' Sirius said faintly. He could feel himself feeling a bit lightheaded, partly due to the fact he had barely eaten in the past forty-eight hours, and even when he had, it had mostly been scraps he could find from local establishments in Hogsmeade; but he was mostly feeling it due to shock of the events which had occurred this evening.

His initial goal from escaping Azkaban was to track down Wormtail and kill him, everything else would be secondary. While he had not done what he had set out to do, Sirius was finding things were turning out better than he could ever possibly imagine. His best friend and his godson were back in his life and they both knew the truth. The whole world did not matter to him. By this point, what did it matter if they knew the truth, as long as Remus and Harry did. The two most important people in his life knew and that was all that mattered to Sirius, the rest of it would just be another benefit of this evening's events.

'You're going to be free,' Harry stated enthusiastically.

Sirius took a deep breath. 'I'm going to be free,' he repeated.

There was no time to continue the conversation further as Dobby returned with Dumbledore and a still Stunned Wormtail in tow.

'Thank you, Dobby. Why don't you go down to the kitchens and help yourself to one of the magnificent meals our school house-elves have prepared, and do feel free to have them make you up a bed,' Dumbledore suggested. 'We shall discuss the possibility of you joining the house-elves on a permanent, paid basis tomorrow.'

Dobby's green, tennis ball shaped eyes glistened over, and his lips began to tremble. 'Professor Dumbledore is a very kind wizard. Too kind to Dobby.'

And then the floodgates opened with full force. Dobby was still sobbing, muttering inaudibly as he Disapparated down to the school kitchens.

Dumbledore picked up the bowl on his desk. 'Lemon drop?' he offered.

Harry shrugged. Why not. He took one of the sweets and popped in his mouth; instantly, his mouth was full of citrusy goodness.

There was a silence in the room as the three of them waited for Snape to return with the potion.

Harry was wondering how Ron and Hermione were doing. No doubt they were waiting for him to return to the common room.

Then there was the matter of the books. In all the furor of the evening, Harry had almost forgotten about Dobby's initial message regarding the books. The future books about him. Harry was unsure what he made of it. Could they really hold the secrets of the future? And could they really change it? Then again, up until three years prior, Harry had been made to believe magic was not real, and now here he was, at the end of his third year of a magical school where he learnt spells and potions and how to ride a broomstick. Was it really absurd to think these books could hold the power to change their future?

There was a knock on the office door.

'Severus, come in,' Dumbledore called from where he was sat behind his desk, stroking his pet Phoenix, and sucking on a lemon drop.

The door swung open to reveal the Potion's Master, as sullen and unimpressed as he always was. There was a small vial of colourless liquid in his hand.

Dumbledore clapped his hands together. 'Right then, shall we get this started.'

Sirius' hand found it's way to squeeze Harry's leg, which he had not been aware was bouncing up and down in anticipation. Sirius felt the same way; his heart was hammering, despite knowing the outcome. He had heard of some wizards being able to fight off the effects of the truth potion, but Wormtail was not that sort of wizard; it required strength, and Wormtail was two hundred pounds of cowardice.

The pair of them watched as Snape walked towards where Wormtail was floating, still unconscious, and still shackled. With a single wand movement, Dumbledore conjured a chair behind the rat. Snape's hand gripped Wormtail's shoulder and forced him down so that he was seated. Then, with as much gentleness as he usually displayed, Snape forced his mouth open, and tipped the now uncorked vial upside down, shaking it slightly so that several drops of the colourless liquid dropped down on to Wormtail's tongue. He moved several steps to his left to allow Dumbledore the opportunity move so that he was standing directly in front of Wormtail.

Dumbledore pointed his wand straight at Womtail's face. ' _Rennervate_.'

A pair of blue eyes jerked open.

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 **Reading of the books should start in the chapter after next. I never expected it to start off this long, but I wanted to give this story a proper beginning.**

 **It takes barely a minute to let me know whether you enjoyed or disliked it, so please leave a review.**


	3. Chapter 3: Sneak Peek

**I want to apologise for my absence and the lack of chapter three. I have been extremely busy with events which I will not bore you with the details of. The biggest reasons is due to the loss of a friend. I've been feeling very down since it happened and not at all in the mood for writing. I've started again slowly, therefore I have decided to give you a sneak peek of the forthcoming chapter as an apology for the long wait. Let me know what you think of it!**

* * *

 **Chapter Three: Sneak Peek**

Azkaban had felt like an eternity. Never ending nightmares had haunted his every second, from his disturbed slumber, to his dreaded waking moments. Even now, close to a year since he first escaped, Sirius could hear the sound of the Dementors floating past his cell; he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, his breath still catches in his chest, and his blood feels icy cold. The sound of the waves laping up against the weathered stone fortress; the roar of the wind and the pounding of the rain serving as constant reminders that life still existed on the outside of the prison.

Barely a second had gone by from the moment Dumbledore had cast the spell to when it had taken effect, yet it had felt like another twelve years had gone by.

Sirius' heart felt like it was beating a thousand times a second; it was ready to burst free from his chest. Twelve years had led to this moment and Sirius was going to savour every second of it. His legs began to feel weak. Sirius' hand reached out to grab hold of the back of the chair. Dumbledore's office began to spin; the walls coming in and out of focus, as though he were stuck in a Muggle haunted house (which had happened to him once before when Lily had taken all four Marauders out for a day as a Muggle, back when things had seemed perfect despite being in the midst of a war. All Lily had wanted to do was spend a couple of hours forgetting the war, forgetting magic, and experiencing for the first time in years all the things she had done as a child, but had been denied of once her Hogwarts letter had arrived.) The sensation caused a small amount of bile to rise in the back of his throat. Sirius grimaced as he swallowed, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth that would take more than one shot of Firewhiskey to dull. He practiced his breathing technique - something which he had taken up in Azkaban.

 _In through the nose, out through the mouth. In through the nose, out through the mouth._

He continued until he felt his heart rate begin to slow to a more normal, safe pace.

A pair of eyes locked on to his; blue on grey. It had been for a brief second, happening so quick that if he had dared to blink then he surely would have missed it, but it was long enough for Sirius to see the fear in there. A satisfactory smirk spread across Sirius' gaunt face. He was giddy for what was about to unfold.

'P-P-Professor D-Dumbledore...' Wormtail stammered out. His entire body was visibly shaking under their gazes. His eyes were darting wildly around, like a feral animal trapped, except there was no way out for him. The terror in his face grew. Nothing was going to help him and Wormtail knew it.

Sirius wanted to say something - absolutely anything - but words failed him. A mixture of emotions swirled around in his head, ranging from rage, to elation, to relief, to fury. It was up and down. The intense emotions caused the dizziness to return tenfold. The knuckles on his hands turned white from the force in which he was gripping the chair in front of him.

For twelve yeara Sirius' goal had been to find Wormtail and watch the life leave his eyes before the breath left his own lungs. By hook or by crook, he vowed to succeed. And he had succeeded. The Dementor's Kiss awaited him. Sirius was inches away from freedom. Now, for the first time in twelve years, Sirius had a new goal - to clear his name and reclaim the life that was stolen from him, to start afresh with his godson, and Remus of course. Sirius was sick and tired of running and hiding; stealing scraps from bins and breaking into homes to sustain himself. With truth on his side, freedom was more than just a daydream to keep him sane inside the prison walls, it was now a possibilty - a reality. The dizziness became overwhelming.

'Hello Peter.' Dumbledore's voice was remarkably cheerful despite the situation.

Wormtail merely whimpered in response. His eyes were still darting around wildly, searching for a way out of this. Even if he were to transform, he would be outnumbered three to one (four if you included the underage wizard.) There would be nowhere for him to hide.

'It's been a long time, Peter,' Dumledore continued on, as calmly as he would when talking about the weather.

'P-Professor D-Dumbledore...' Wormtail pleaded feebly. It was a pathetic attempt at seeming innocent. It was what had gotten him through seven years of school. That ship had sailed, yet Wormtail still grasped on to that small string of hope. Sirius grinned wickedly at the idea of squashing that hope in to a million tiny fragments. There was no hope for the guilty.

'The Veritaserum should have taken affect by now, Headmaster,' said Snape venomously. Snape twisted the tip of his wand further in to Wormtail's throat with such force that Sirius actually thought he could see a bit of blood being drawn.

'P-Please P-Professor...' Wormtail cried desperately.

Dumbledore paid him no attention.

'Quiet,' Snape snarled.

Beside him, Sirius could hear Harry's fingers tapping away at the side of the chair with anticipation. For a few brief minutes, Sirius had almost forgotten his godson was there next to him, waiting on edge to hear the truth of his parent's betrayal right from the horse's mouth. Harry had the same nervous tick as James, Sirius fondly realised. James had been a finger tapper, while Lily had been a leg shaker. Both had driven him in to near insanity.

'Are you okay?' Sirius whispered.

Harry, having been engrossed in the scene in front of him, jumped at the sound of his godfather's voice.

'What?'

'Are you okay?' Sirius repeated.

They would not go ahead if Harry was not ready for this.

'Yeah, I'm fine,' Harry said quickly. There was no chance he was missing this.

Sirius was skeptical but he let it side. His hand became a permanent fixture on Harry's shoulder during the interrogation. The warmth he could feel from Harry's own body provided him with much comfort.

'Can you state your name for me please,' Dumbledore requested kindly.

It was an automatic reply.

'Peter Pettigrew.' Wormtail's face contorted with pain as he fought against the effects of the truth serum.

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 **It has not been edited properly so please forgive mistakes. I'm going to work on getting the full chapter out soon. Thanks so much for all your reviews. I haven't responded yet but know I appreciate it.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Thank you all so much for your kind words.**

 **Enjoy the full chapter three! It's the longest chapter so far!**

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

Azkaban had felt like an eternity. Never ending nightmares had haunted his every second, from his disturbed slumber, to his dreaded waking moments. Even now, close to a year since he first escaped, Sirius could hear the sound of Dementors floating past his cell; he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, his breath still catches in his chest, and his blood feels icy cold. The sound of waves lapping up against the weathered stone fortress; the roar of the wind and the pounding of the rain serving as constant reminders that life still existed on the outside of the prison.

Barely a second had gone by from the moment Dumbledore had cast the spell to when it had taken effect, yet it had felt like another twelve years had gone by.

Sirius' heart felt like it was beating a thousand times a second; it was ready to burst free from his chest. Twelve years had led to this moment and Sirius was going to savour every second of it. His legs began to feel weak. Sirius' hand reached out to grab hold of the back of the chair. Dumbledore's office began to spin; the walls coming in and out of focus, as though he were stuck in a Muggle haunted house (which had happened to him once before when Lily had taken all four Marauders out for the day as a Muggle, back when things had seemed perfect despite being in the midst of a war. All Lily had wanted to do was spend a couple of hours forgetting the war, forgetting magic, and experiencing for the first time in years all the things she had done as a child, but had been denied of once her Hogwarts letter had arrived.) The sensation caused a small amount of bile to rise in the back of his throat. Sirius grimaced as he swallowed, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth that would take more than one shot of Firewhiskey to dull. He practiced his breathing technique -

 _In through the nose, out through the mouth. In through the nose, out through the mouth._

He continued until he felt his heart rate begin to slow to a more normal, safe pace.

A pair of eyes locked on to his; blue on grey. It had been for a brief second, happening so quick that if he had dared to blink then he surely would have missed it, but it was long enough for Sirius to see the fear in there. A satisfactory smirk spread across Sirius' gaunt face. He was giddy for what was about to unfold.

'P-P-Professor D-Dumbledore...' Wormtail stammered out. His entire body was visibly shaking under their gazes. His eyes were darting wildly around, like a feral animal trapped, except there was no way out for him. The terror in his face grew. Nothing was going to help him and Wormtail knew it.

Sirius wanted to say something - absolutely anything - but words failed him. A mixture of emotions swirled around in his head, ranging from rage, to elation, to relief, to fury. It was up and down. The intense emotions caused the dizziness to return tenfold. The knuckles on his hands turned white from the force in which he was gripping the chair in front of him.

For twelve years Sirius' goal had been to find Wormtail and watch the life leave his eyes before the breath left Sirius' own lungs. By hook or by crook, he vowed to succeed. And he had succeeded. The Dementor's Kiss awaited him. Sirius was inches away from complete freedom. Now, for the first time in twelve years, Sirius had a new goal - to clear his name and reclaim the life that was stolen from him; to start afresh with Harry and Remus. Sirius was sick and tired of running and hiding; stealing scraps from bins and breaking in to homes to sustain himself. With truth on his side, freedom was more than just a daydream to keep him sane inside the prison walls, it was now a possibility - a reality.

'Hello Peter.' Dumbledore's voice was remarkably cheerful despite the situation.

Wormtail merely whimpered in response. His eyes were still darting around wildly, searching for a way out of this. Even if he were to transform, he would be outnumbered three to one (four if you included the underage wizard.) There would be nowhere for him to hide.

'It's been a long time, Peter,' Dumbledore continued on, as calmly as he would when talking about the weather.

'P-Professor D-Dumbledore...' Wormtail pleaded feebly. It was a pathetic attempt at seeming innocent. It was what had gotten him through seven years of school. That ship had sailed, yet Wormtail still grasped on to that small string of hope. Sirius grinned wickedly at the idea of squashing that hope in to a million tiny fragments. There was no hope for the guilty.

'The Veritaserum should have taken affect by now, Headmaster,' said Snape venomously. Snape twisted the tip of his wand further in to Wormtail's throat with such force that Sirius actually thought he could see a bit of blood being drawn.

'P-Please P-Professor...' Wormtail cried desperately.

Dumbledore paid him no attention.

'Quiet!' Snape snarled.

Beside him, Sirius could hear Harry's fingers tapping away at the side of the chair with anticipation. For a few brief minutes, Sirius had almost forgotten his godson was there next to him, waiting on edge to hear the truth of his parent's betrayal right from the horse's mouth. Harry had the same nervous tick as James, Sirius fondly realised. James had been a finger tapper, while Lily had been a leg shaker. Both had driven him in to near insanity.

'Are you okay?' Sirius whispered.

Harry, having been engrossed in the scene in front of him, jumped at the sound of his godfather's voice.

'What?'

'Are you okay?' Sirius repeated.

They would not go ahead if Harry was not ready for this.

'Yeah, I'm fine,' Harry said quickly. There was no chance he was missing this.

Sirius was skeptical but he let it slide. His hand became a permanent fixture on Harry's shoulder during the interrogation. The warmth he could feel from Harry's own body provided him with much comfort.

'Can you state your name for me please,' Dumbledore requested kindly.

It was an automatic reply.

'Peter Pettigrew.' Wormtail's face contorted with pain as he fought against the effects of the truth serum.

'Are you or have you ever been a Death Eater?'

Wormtail tried hard to fight against the Veritaserum, but, not that Sirius would ever admit it to his face, nothing and no one could fight off Snape's brew.

A sheen of sweat was layered on Wormtail's face; his breathing laboured. He cried out in agony. The sound was more pitiful than anything. If Sirius' parents had heard an animal make a sound like that, they would have had it put down in a heartbeat.

'Yes.'

'When did you become a Death Eater?'

'A year before the Dark Lord fell.'

A year...

How had they not realised Wormtail was not loyal to them? There would have been signs. Did they fail to notice it because they had underestimated him? Wormtail had always been the weakest link, and, in all honesty, there had been instances where the other Marauders and himself had ignored Peter. Was this their fault?

Despite that, Peter had been their friend - their brother. The four of them always talked about how nothing else mattered more than each other. Sirius could fondly remember James leaping to his feet in the Gryffindor common room on one particularly freezing December evening, lounging in front of the fireplace, completely ignoring their heavy workload that was due in that week. Sirius could still remember the warmth from the flames. It had come several hours after Mary MacDonald had been told her father and little brother had been killed by Death Eaters. Dark times had arisen, and it wasn't rare for one of their classmates to be pulled from lessons to be given the dreaded news their family had been attacked. The amount of people pulled had increased in the weeks leading up to Christmas. It seemed Death Eaters did not take a holiday. In typical James fashion, he had puffed his chest out (more for Lily's viewing pleasure than anything as she had yet to agree to go out with him), his eyebrows furrowed and face set with conviction, and declared that nothing could ever cause him to sway to the other side. They were brothers, blood relations be damned, and family stuck together.

 _'This world pisses me off. I hate how it has come down to kill or be killed. Mary's brother was nine, for fuck's sake. He was just a little kid. I wanted to become a world famous Quidditch player, Merlin knows I'm good enough to pull it off, but that's not going to stop other people from dying.'_

 _James started to pace and began running a hand through his hair; he did that when he was riled up. Normally James, who had begun to amass an audience for his speech, would have adored being the centre of attention, being admired by the rest of Gryffindor house, and would have made a cheeky move on Lily (who was making a point of not staring), but he ignored them, instead focusing on the three boys in front of him._

 _'I'm going to change the world and I know the three of you are going to be there with me. And when the Death Eaters come charging in, demanding our surrender, I know you will all be there fighting with me side by side. I would rather die than see anything happen to any of you. If the Death Eaters want me then they'll have to kill me, because there is no way in hell that I will join them and betray any of you. We are Marauders. We are brothers.'_

 _'Couldn't have said it any better myself, boys.'_

Sirius was the only one of the four to have been raised with a sibling. He loved his brother, but the older Regulus has gotten, the more indoctrinated in to their parent's belief system he became, and Sirius knew there was nothing he could do to stop Regulus from becoming a Death Eater, although that did not stop him from trying his damnedest to make sure it didn't happen. His pleas fell on deaf ears. Regulus was surrounded by the Slytherins. Talk about becoming Death Eaters was probably breakfast conversation. Despite loving his brother, Sirius never trusted him. People had always betrayed him. If Sirius wanted something doing, he would go out and do it himself. That was the only way it could be guaranteed. Then he met his fellow Marauders. Suddenly he had people he could, for the first time, trust with his life. They had all proven themselves over the past six years of friendship. So when it came to keeping James, Lily, and Harry safe, it never even crossed his mind not to allow Peter to help out. His reasoning was valid - Sirius was James' best friend and Voldemort knew this. Sirius had just as much of a target pinned on his chest as James did. How had Peter gone from declaring he would die for his brothers to betraying them. Where had they gone wrong with him.

'Why did you become a Death Eater? Dumbledore demanded. The kindness in his voice had disappeared.

Wormtail clenched his hands in to fists.

'He was taking over. He was winning. What could I have done?' There was anger in his voice now. 'What could any of us have done?'

'You're a coward!' Harry burst out angrily. Sirius' grip on his shoulder tightened. 'You're a complete coward. You joined him because you were scared.'

'You don't know the kind of power the Dark Lord possesses...'

Harry cut him off. 'You think _I_ don't know? I've gone up against him three times. I will never join him, no matter what.'

Sirius swelled up with pride. Harry was his parents' son through and through. They would, however, have to speak about him going up against Voldemort three times. Just what had happened while Sirius had been in Azkaban?

'If you were so scared, why did you not come to Dumbledore? Why didn't you come to us?'

'The Dark Lord was too powerful. No one could survive on the opposing side.'

'We did!' Sirius roared. 'We would have helped you. How could you have sold James and Lily out?'

'He wanted Harry. James and Lily didn't have to die.'

Sirius recoiled as though he had been slapped in the face. He could not believe what he was hearing.

'Don't you _ever_ speak to Harry again.'

Babies had never really been Sirius' forte. They had never held much interest for him. What was he supposed to do with one? Then Harry was born. He took one look at the pink, slightly wrinkled form resting on Lily's chest and couldn't believe how beautiful he looked, with his little tufts of jet black hair sticking up (as it still did to this day), and his big, green eyes. Harry fit right in to their family from the get go. He belonged there. Sirius was elated when he was chosen to be Harry's godfather, and there was no doubt he loved that kid as though he were his own. He vowed to protect him as best he could. When it came down to it, James was second to Harry. Maybe it's because Sirius would lay down his life for Harry that made it impossible for him to comprehend how someone else couldn't. There was no doubting Remus would do the same, too. What had broken inside Peter that he wouldn't do the exact same?

It was one thing for Sirius to have heard that, but Harry had, too, and that was crossing a line.

'Sirius...' Dumbledore's tone held a warning.

With his fingers, Sirius made a motion across his lips as though he were closing a zip.

He leaned in closer to Harry. 'Are you okay? Do you need to leave?'

'No, I want to stay, Sirius,' said Harry, shaking his head furiously.

Dumbledore's attention turned back to Peter. 'Are you an Animagus?'

'Yes.'

'When did you become an Animagus?'

'During my fifth year at Hogwarts. James, Sirius, and I all became one to help out Remus during the full moons. James became a stag, Sirius a dog, and I became a rat.'

'Where have you been for the last twelve years?'

Wormtail squeezed his eyes together. He was still attempting to fight off the truth serum.

'I've been living as a rat with the Weasley family. One of the sons found me in their garden a few days after the Dark Lord fell. I was not entirely happy but I was content. Sirius was in jail, the other Death Eaters had disappeared in to hiding, and I was getting fed and had a roof over my head. No one but Sirius and Remus knew about my being an Animagus. I didn't think anyone would ever believe Sirius after I framed him, and Remus would have been convinced I was dead. No one would have ever suspected me. It was the perfect hiding place.'

'Severus, I think I've heard enough. Would you be so kind as to go and alert the Minister. There's one more for Azkaban tonight.'

'Perhaps the Dementor's Kiss would be a more worthy punishment, Headmaster,' Snape suggested venomously. While he had remained silent through the interrogation, his mind had not been so quiet. The coward responsible for Lily's death sat in front of him, and he, Severus, had his wand directly at his throat. All it would take is two words and he could end it all...

Wormtail screamed and pleasure soared through Severus at the sound. It would not bring Lily back, but seeing her memory brought to justice, well that would be more than enough for him. Second best only to defeating the Dark Lord for the final time.

'No! Please, Professor Dumbledore, I'll go to Azkaban, please just spare me from the Kiss.'

Wormtail's pleas fell on deaf ears. It was no more than he deserved.

It all began to sound like white noise to Sirius. He had done it. Okay, so he had a bit more to go. He had to get the Minister on his side, but if he had managed to convince Dumbledore, then how hard could it be to convince an idiot like Cornelius Fudge. Sirius' stomach was in knots, and if it wasn't for the fact there was nothing in his stomach, Sirius was convinced he would be vomiting everywhere.

Freedom was inches away.

* * *

It had been close to two hours since she and Ron had made their way to the hospital wing to get Ron's broken leg mended. It had taken barely a minute for Madam Pomfrey to fix the bone, but he had to remain in the hospital for another hour for observation, much to both Ron and Hermione's annoyance. The Matron had started asking questions about how he had sustained the injury. It wasn't like they could really tell her the truth just yet.

 _'What are we supposed to tell her?' Hermione whispered frantically as Madam Pomfrey had gone to her store cupboard to get a potion. 'The truth?'_

 _'Yeah, because that's going to go well. Don't worry Madam Pomfrey, convicted murderer Sirius Black wanted to steal my rat because he's an unregistered Animagus of the name Peter Pettigrew, who betrayed Harry's parents to You-Know-Who, but I got in the way and he dragged me through the Whomping Willow by my leg. Oh, and by the way, did I mention Sirius Black is also an Animagus who looks like the grim. We can't say that, Hermione.'_

 _'But if all goes well, then Sirius will be released and Pettigrew will be sent to Azkaban tonight.'_

 _'And then we can start telling the truth, but until then, it's probably better to keep it quiet.'_

 _Hermione sighed. 'You're right, but I just really don't like lying.'_

 _'It's not like we don't do it often enough, and we're protecting Harry and Sirius. The last thing we need is Madam Pomfrey going around telling everyone Sirius Black is at Hogwarts. You saw what happened last time.'_

In the end, they had resorted to telling Madam Pomfrey he had been bitten by Fang, after he had been frightened, while they had been visiting Hagrid before Buckbeak's execution, and that he had fallen down the path next to Hagrid's hut. It sounded absurd even to them, but it was not impossible. Hermione had once broken her arm after falling over a football during a PE class in her primary school; she had not fallen that hard, yet it broke in two places. The best part of it was not having to participate in PE classes for the next six weeks while her arm healed; it was the only class she greatly disliked.

Finally the hour had come and gone and Ron was discharged from the hospital. The pair of them practically sprinted back to the common room to wait for Harry.

'Well,' Hermione said, 'we might as well get started on some homework.'

Ron was dumbfounded at what he just heard. 'Really, Hermione? Homework? This is no time for homework.'

According to Ron, there was never a good time for homework.

'We don't know how long Harry's going to be. We might as well be productive.'

'My leg is still healing, I need to rest it. Homework is only going to make it flare up.'

Hermione glared at him. 'It took Madam Pomfrey seconds to fix it. Your leg is fine, Ronald.'

No doubt Ron would be milking this one for all it's worth for a long time coming.

'I wish they would hurry up.'

Patience was never one of Ron's strong suits.

'Me too,' Hermione said, staring at the entrance to the portrait hole, as though staring at it would make Harry suddenly appear.

Her best friend deserved this. Hermione did not too much about the Dursley's, but from what she had heard, mostly from Ron and the twins, they were not very nice people, and that was putting it mildly. Harry had bars on his window the summer before last. There was a cat flap installed in his door so he could be fed daily. Hedwig had been locked in a cage. She couldn't even begin to imagine just what else had happened behind closed doors. What was Harry not telling them? Hermione didn't wish to pry, not when it came to such a sensitive topic, so she was waiting for Harry to become comfortable opening up.

Tonight she had seen a difference in him that she had not seen before. During their times at the Weasley's, Harry had always seemed slightly uncomfortable at the family setting. Hermione could, to a point, understand, because it wasn't her family and the way others do things are different to her own, particularly a wizarding family. Maybe that's why Harry kept to himself a bit more whilst there, or maybe it was because he had not known what families were supposed to be like. Hermione thought it was the latter. But tonight, Harry had slotted himself in with Sirius and Professor Lupin quite comfortably. At certain points, Hermione had caught herself staring at them interacting with one another and it was almost natural the way Harry smiled and the almost protective nature of Sirius. She was really hoping that things worked out the way it should have done all along. This was Harry's chance to get away from his aunt and uncle.

'I still can't believe you kept Lupin being a werewolf a secret from us all this time.'

'It wasn't my place to say anything. I didn't even know for certain. I suspected, yes, but it's not like he went around with a big sign saying werewolf. It was absolutely uncalled for for Snape to try and expose his secret to his students.'

'He's a greasy haired git!'

Hermione couldn't find it in herself to scold Ron for disrespecting a teacher; she happened to agree with him.

Waiting for Harry turned in to an hour. Hermione had picked up her homework from her dorm. She had essays due for Arithmancy and History of Magic that needed completing before next week ('What's the point in doing the essay for Binns, he never reads them, and if he does, it's not like he knows who you are. You can get away with anything in his lessons,' Ron had said when Hermione had pointed out, for the umpteenth time, how Ron had yet to start his essay.) Instead, Ron had decided to forgo homework in favour of Exploding Snap with Neville.

Six rounds later and most of the common room had disappeared up to their dormitories.

'This is my last game,' Neville announced through a yawn.

It took less than a minute for the pack to explode in his face.

'That's it, I'm done for the night.'

'You let that happen,' Ron accused, but he was smiling. Neville was not exactly big competition for him.

Neville grinned as he stood up. 'Maybe I did a little bit.' He swung his bag over his shoulder and pushed his chair in. 'Goodnight, I'll see you tomorrow.'

'Night,' said Hermione, not looking up from her complicated Arithmancy equations.

'Wanna play a game, Hermione?' Ron offered for the third time that night.

Once again Hermione declined. 'I need to concentrate on this. Arithmancy is one of the most difficult subjects going. I need to get this right.'

'You chose it,' Ron reminded her.

'It's an interesting subject, much better than Divination.' Not to mention that subject was taught by a fraud.

'Yeah, but Divination is an easy OWL.'

Hermione was about to open her mouth to scold him (choosing subjects to take for OWL's were very important and not to be taken lightly; it was going to affect them for the rest of their lives), when the portrait hole opened and Harry walked in.

'Harry!'

'How did it go?'

'Where's Sirius?'

'Is he free? Did Dumbledore believe you?'

'Jeez, give me a minute, will you.' Harry's tone was light. He walked over to the sofa directly in front of the fireplace and sat down with a big sigh, but there was a smile on his face. 'It went...great, actually. Pettigrew was given Veritaserum; he spilled the truth out to Dumbledore. Snape was sent to get Fudge after that, and that was... difficult. He didn't want to admit Sirius was innocent at first, but once Snape gave Pettigrew more Veritaserum and admitted to everything, he still didn't want to believe it.'

'That man is a joke,' Hermione burst out angrily.

'I completely agree with you, Hermione. Even Dumbledore doesn't seem to like him. But he's gone and taken Sirius to the Ministry.'

'He's not getting sent back to Azkaban, is he?'

Harry shook his head. 'They've gone there so that the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, or something like that, can get a formal statement written down and to give Sirius a pardon. I think they're going to give him some Veritaserum, too. The condition for him to even step foot in the Ministry is if Dumbledore went along with him and no criminal charges are to be brought against him for fleeing Azkaban and law enforcement for the last year.'

'And Fudge is going to agree to that?'

'He's got no choice,' Harry told her matter of factly. 'He's already going to face a huge public backlash about sending the wrong man to prison for a crime he did not commit without first giving him a trial.'

'What's going to happen when he's finally declared innocent? With you and him, I mean.'

Harry paused, thinking. He had not really allowed himself to give it much thought. He did not want to get his hopes up that somehow he would finally be able to escape the Dursley's.

'Oh... I'm not really sure. He's asked me to live with him.'

'That's great news, Harry.'

'Yeah,' Ron agreed, clapping his best friend on the shoulder, 'congrats, mate.'

Harry ran a hand nervously through his hair. 'Thanks.' He let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding. 'I'm not sure what to think about it.'

'You don't have to make a decision straight away,' Hermione pointed out kindly.

'We've still got those books to read,' Ron remembered, causing Harry to let out a groan.

'I had almost forgotten about those.'

'It might not be that bad.' There was not a lot of conviction behind Hermione's words.

'Hermione, I know you mean well, but when has there been a year at Hogwarts where there hasn't been someone out to get me. I don't know about you, but I can't see the next few years here going too well.'

No one could blame him. Voldemort had attempted murder on him during his two first years at Hogwarts and then this year Harry had been sheltered and protected away from Sirius whilst everyone was still under the assumption he had wanted to kill Harry. It made him question what the next four years of school were going to be like. Who knows, maybe he would have a holiday next year.

'Even if someone does try to kill you, at least we'll have the advantage of reading about it beforehand, and stop anyone from trying to hurt you.'

Well, there was that. No one could fault that logic.

'Tomorrow is going to be a long day,' Harry deduced. Now that he was relaxed, he was beginning to feel exhausted, both mentally and physically, but he was too giddy, and partly filled with dread, to even think about going to sleep.

Both Hermione and Ron ignored their own fatigue and decided to stay with Harry for as long as he needed them. The three of them spent the rest of the night playing Gobstones with a set that had been left out on one of the tables. Neither Harry nor Hermione would go up against Ron in a game of wizard chess again; he was reigning champion. Most of Gryffindor house refused to play him.

It was nearing four a.m when they each sleepily made their way up to their respective dormitories.

* * *

 **As far as I'm aware, there's no specific date of when Wormtail joined Voldemort, just that it's before the night James and Lily died, so I decided to go with a year. If any of you know of a different date then please kindly drop me a message.**

 **Let me know what you think about the chapter.**


	5. Chapter 4

**You guys blow me away with your kindness. Thank you to everyone who has supported this story in some form or another.**

* * *

 **Chapter Four**

The sun had not yet risen when Harry awoke. Groaning, he rolled over in his four poster bed, placed his glasses on his face, and looked at the watch he had set on his bedside cabinet. The time read ten to six. He had only gone to bed not long before four. Harry rolled over again so that he was lying on his back. Harry closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and attempted to get back to sleep. It was too early for him to go get breakfast, although he did not think his stomach could handle food at this moment, and he knew it would be a few hours before he had a chance to see Sirius.

But it was no use. Despite feeling exhaustion deep in his bones, sleep eluded him. Harry let out an exasperated groan. An abundance of patience he had not. Knowing that just lying there was going to frustrate him more than not sleeping, Harry decided to quietly and carefully get out of bed, he grabbed his clothes from the chair next to his bed, and tip toed to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

Harry caught sight of himself in the mirror. There were bags under his bloodshot eyes. He looked horrendous, and about as good as he felt, which was beginning to confuse him. Last night had the best possible outcome they could have imagined, so why was there a pit in his stomach? He could not pinpoint the feeling exactly. Was it nerves, anxiety, or dread? Maybe even a combination of all three. Things were starting to change for him.

Harry then spent the next twenty minutes washing and changing and attempting to make himself appear more alive than he had seemed, which, after splashing water on his face, and rubbing his cheeks so that colour flooded in to them, he actually looked worse than he did five minutes prior, but that was the best he could do, unless Hermione knew of a spell he could use to erase the bags under his eyes. She probably did; he would have to make a mental note to ask her.

The sun had risen by the time he emerged from the bathroom. Natural light had started to creep in through the windows, brightening up the whole dormitory. Harry saw Ron squint at the little bit of sunlight beginning to settle in his eyes, and rolled over with a loud snore, his hand coming to rest atop of his eyes.

Now that the sun was up for the day, the full moon would have waned, meaning Lupin would be human once again and would probably make his way back to his office. That, Harry decided, was where he was going to go and wait for the rest of the castle to awaken. As quietly as he could, Harry opened his trunk, which was situated at the foot of his bed, and took out one of his most prized possessions: the Cloak of Invisibility that had once belonged to his dad. Harry had inherited it during his first year at Hogwarts. It came in handy when he needed to sneak about the castle (which happened more regularly than he liked, he just had to remember to bring it with him otherwise he would end up in detention, as was the case when he and Hermione had taken Hagrid's pet dragon to the tallest tower in the castle so he could go to Romania to live with other dragons), and when he could not sleep.

Insomnia was something Harry frequently suffered with, and on the nights it was particularly bad, he would take out his cloak and roam the castle halls, exploring as much as he possibly could with the help of one of his other most prized possessions, which, until last night, he did not have a clue of its origins. The Marauders Map had been given to Harry by the Weasley twins, who had swiped it from Filch's office when he wasn't looking. They gave it to Harry this year so he could sneak in to Hogsmeade without being seen, because apparently there was not enough adults in the wizarding village to keep an eye on him while they suspected Sirius to be intent on capturing and killing him. Harry understood their reasoning but it didn't mean he had to like it. The map was originally created by his own father, with the help of Sirius, Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. His own father had held this map. Every single time Harry had it in his hands, warmth spread through him, and he felt a jolt in his stomach. His dad had watched the map come in and out of existence, and had touched every inch of the parchment with his bare hands. It was yet another thing giving proof to the fact James Potter once held life inside him.

The walk to Lupin's office was a quiet one. The castle was asleep and so were the paintings, most snoring away with their heads propped up against the side of the frame. The portraits lining the walls were some of his favourite pieces in the school. It was intriguing to see them move from portrait to portrait, weaving in between others, and going about their daily routine. Some were pleasant, even offering directions to classes that were particularly difficult to find at the beginning of the year what with them being in a part of the castle he had never explored before, and some were rude and hostile, hating the students running in the corridor or using magic when they weren't supposed to. The one thing that annoyed Harry the most about them was when they recognised him as being The Boy Who Lived and began running through their neighbours portraits in order to get a better look at him. It had been three years, so he had learnt to ignore it, but it did still irk him most of the time. He wasn't a specimen in the zoo that people could ogle at.

Soon enough Harry found himself outside Lupin's office door. He turned the handle and was surprised at the sight that met him as he slipped through the door.

Sitting at Lupin's desk, feet propped up and a steaming cup merely inches from his hand, was Sirius. He was still clothed in the rags he had escaped Azkaban in. Within seconds of Harry slipping through the door, Sirius was on his feet, wand in hand.

'Who's there?' He called out sharply; his eyes were narrowed but alert, and his stance full and hard, ready to strike at any given second. 'Show yourself!'

Harry, realising he was still wearing the cloak, quickly pulled it off and said, 'Sirius, it's me. It's Harry.'

Sirius released a long breath of relief, his left hand resting on his chest. 'Merlin Harry, you know how to almost give me a heart attack. I thought it was one of Moony's students or a ghost. It wouldn't be a good idea to be seen just yet.' Sirius lowered his wand. 'Anyway, what are you doing here? You should be in bed.'

'Couldn't sleep,' Harry confessed, at the same time he stifled a yawn.

There was a small knowing smile on Sirius' lips. 'Me either.' He took a seat behind Lupin's desk once again and motioned for Harry to take the seat opposite. 'It's been a crazy night, huh.'

That was an understatement.

'You can say that again.' There was one question burning inside Harry. 'So, are you free then?'

'More or less. I mean officially not yet. Wormtail has been carted off to Azkaban to await trial. It's going to be held in front of the entire Wizengamot and vote from there about whether he's sentenced to life in Azkaban or the Dementor's Kiss. I suppose they want to do it properly this time.'

There was bitterness to Sirius' voice which Harry could honestly not blame him for. He could feel a connection between himself and his godfather for both of them had spent a good portion of their lives locked up. Sirius in prison and Harry in a cupboard. Both surrounded by misery and despair and no hope that things would ever get better. One of the only differences between them was that Harry was allowed out to breathe fresh air, after all the Dursley's had to keep up pretences. It would have raised more questions if Harry had not been seen every now and again.

'But there's no way they can find me guilty after this.' Sirius exhaled hard. A smile returned to his face, and he let out a nervous, shaky bark.

'What happened?'

'I was questioned, Dumbledore was there the whole time, and Amelia Bones, who is the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement took a statement. It actually went smoother than I had thought it would. I wasn't there as long as I thought. Fudge didn't want to release me at first, he claimed I could have duped the Veritaserum one way or another and wouldn't accept my statement as truth, so I ended up handing over my memories of the events, which are going to be cross examined, and I'm going to have to attend Wormtail's trial and be put up as a witness, but for now there is no evidence or reason to have me locked in Azkaban, so for the time being I'm out on bail. It's all going to be under the radar for now.'

'Where will you be staying?' Harry asked curiously. It seemed quite childish to him considering they had met for the first time properly last night, but he didn't want Sirius to stray too far from him.

'Here for the time being,' said Sirius, gesturing around Lupin's office. 'Literally here. Dumbledore doesn't want me straying too far, but he doesn't want me to be seen either, so I'm a prisoner of the castle. Fudge's condition for my being here is that Dumbledore has me on lockdown and my whereabouts known at all times. It beats being a prisoner in Azkaban. The Dementors are to remain stationed around the castle too.'

Harry groaned. He had hoped, perhaps too optimistically, that with Wormtail's confession and Sirius' innocence that the Dementors would be pulled away from the school straight away. He had been looking forward to not fainting and hearing the pleas from his dead parents to spare his life each time they came close to him. The chill deep in his core and the despair he felt every time he ventured on to the grounds had nothing on the memories he experienced.

Sirius looked at him empathetically. 'I know it's not ideal, but it won't be for much longer. Wormtail's trial is scheduled for the day after next. Dumbledore pushed for a quicker date; he hates having those things around just as much.'

A couple more days was nothing when he had already endured a year of them.

'Dumbledore is putting a lot of trust in Moony and you to keep me out of trouble until the trial.'

'Well it's a good thing today is a Hogsmeade day, the last before the end of the year, so everyone is going to be there,' said Harry brightly.

'Including you?' Sirius asked quickly.

'I don't have a signed permission slip,' Harry told him. Not that it would have stopped him now, thanks to Fred and George and his extremely handy Invisibility Cloak.

Sirius snorted and Harry knew he was thinking along the same lines. No doubt he, Lupin, and Harry's dad had snuck out of the castle using the cloak once or twice themselves whilst students at Hogwarts.

Where it had bothered Harry in the beginning to be discluded (even with the exception of knowing Ron and Hermione would be back, carrying as much as their pockets would allow, and regaling him with tales from the village, it had still felt like primary school all over again, where Harry was the only kid in his entire year not to be allowed on any of the school trips because his aunt and uncle did not want to pay for his place), right now spending time with his godfather was greater than browsing through the enormous selection of sweets Honeydukes had to offer.

'You know what this means then?'

Harry's brows furrowed. 'Not really.'

'It means we're going to have some time to read these books.'

 _Damn._ Harry groaned, he had thought his godfather might have forgotten about those in the excitement of his freedom.

'Aren't you the least bit curious?'

'Not really,' Harry lied. He _was_ interested, but everyone seemed so eager to read about him - would they feel the same if the books were about them?

'Look, Harry,' Sirius began, leaning forward in his seat, his arms resting on Lupin's desk, concern etched all over his face, 'I know these books are about you, and you're probably feeling less than thrilled about people reading them. You're famous and everyone already knows more about you than no doubt you're comfortable with. Hell, I would probably feel the same way if the books were about me specifically. The rest of us are just going to be extras at best. But you've got to think about what good can come from this.

'You know, when I was waiting in the Ministry, I asked Dumbledore about you. He told me you had been through some dark and trying times in your three years here. He didn't give me any specifics,' - Harry sighed with relief; he wasn't ready to have that conversation just yet - 'he told me to ask you instead. I'm going to hear about it at some point but not today.' Sirius smiled reassuringly. He was bursting to know, but Harry needed him to be patient, something Sirius was never any good at but was willing to try for his godson. 'You have a chance to read all about how your life is going to go, but you have to remember it's not written in stone. You are supposed to change your future for the better. How many people get that chance? You, of all people, have been through so much, you shouldn't have to go through anyomore tough times, or at least not without the upper hand. This is an advantage you should not take for granted.'

This completely knocked Harry for six. Sirius' voice was dripping with concern and care _for him_. He spoke with such sincerity that Harry couldn't help but believe his words. Was this going to be a good thing? Could he really sit through four books worth? A large part of him was apprehensive about what could possibly happen in the future for there to even be books about him sent back from the future. Just how bad was it about to get?

'It'll be okay,' Sirius continued gently. 'Take it slowly. We don't have to read it all at once. Let's take it slow, and if you don't want to continue then we don't have to, okay?'

Harry swallowed hard and nodded. He let out a shaky, 'Okay.' Harry attempted to lighten the mood by adding, 'You do realise this means you're going to have to read it with Snape?'

Sirius' face fell. 'I completely forgot all about that part. He's a greasy git who hasn't gotten over the petty childhood feud he had with us in school. I'm probably going to kill him. No, scratch that, I'm _definitely_ going to kill him -'

'Who are you going to kill?' came a weary, hoarse voice from behind Harry.

It was Lupin, looking worse for wear; his face pale, there was a sheen of sweat glistening his face, he could barely stand without leaning against the doorframe for support, and despite being swathed in an oversized beige knitted cardigan, he looked as though he had lost several pounds overnight.

Almost immediately Harry jumped out of his seat. His professor did not look good. Lupin never looked completely healthy (and now Harry knew why) but seeing firsthand the effect on him after the full moon, Lupin actually looked as though he wouldn't have the strength to fight off a cold.

'Here, sit down.'

Lupin smiled kindly, and, with some slight hesitation, slowly limped over to the now vacant seat. 'Thank you.' He turned to Harry with what looked like embarrassment on his alabaster face. 'I must apologise to you, Harry, for last night. It was never my intention to lie to you, and I certainly never wanted you to ever see me like that.'

'You don't have to apologise,' Harry said sincerely. 'I know why you kept it a secret and it's okay. It doesn't bother me and it definitely doesn't bother Ron and Hermione either. So you've got a little problem every month, it doesn't take away the fact you're still Professor Lupin, the best Defence teacher we've ever had.'

Lupin swallowed hard. He seemed to fighting back tears. 'Thank you, Harry, you have no idea how much that means to me.'

Harry shrugged and smiled. 'It's no big deal.'

Sirius stood up, his arms raised and his faced scrunched as he stretched. Once he was done, he walked around to the front of the desk where Harry was currently standing and laid a hand on Harry's shoulder. 'You need breakfast. I want you to go and meet Ron and Hermione and get some food. Moony is going to need some time to make himself more presentable for company. Meet us back here in two hours and we'll get started on that first book. Chin up, it will be okay,' Sirius added at the face his godson pulled at the mention of the books.

' _I_ need to make _myself_ more presentable? You've got some nerve Padfoot.'

'Moony, have you even looked in the mirror this morning?'

'That's my cue to leave.' Harry grinned. 'I'll catch you both later.'

* * *

Harry found Ron and Hermione seated at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall; Ron was stuffing his face full of sausages devoured in ketchup while Hermione was busy buttering her toast and deciding on which topping to add: marmalade or jam. Harry had not realised how hungry he was until the smell of eggs and bacon invaded his nostrils.

'Where have you been?' Hermione asked almost immediately before Harry even had a chance to sit himself down. She glanced around to see who was in earshot before she asked, 'Have you heard anymore about Sirius?'

Harry nodded, shovelling three fried eggs on to his plate, and helping himself to four rashers of bacon and two pieces of toast. 'I couldn't sleep earlier to I went to Lupin's office to wait for him but Sirius was already there.'

'What did he say? Is he free? Does Fudge believe him? What's happened to Pettigrew?'

It was impressive how little Hermione needed to breathe.

'Give him a chance to eat, Hermione,' said Ron, rolling his eyes. And she called him impatient.

Hermione's cheeks flushed red.

'Technically he's not free yet,' Harry explained in between mouthfuls of eggs. 'They're awaiting trial for Pettigrew. It's going to be held in a couple of days time. They wanted to keep him in Azkaban until the trial but Dumbledore convinced Fudge to let Sirius stay here instead as long as Dumbledore knows where he is at all times and he stays hidden, so he's basically just going to hole himself up in Lupin's office for the next couple of days until he can legally be declared free.'

'This is good, though,' said Ron cheerfully. 'If there was a chance Sirius was going to end up back in Azkaban, Fudge never would have let Dumbledore bring him back to the castle. For as clueless as Fudge is, Dumbledore wouldn't be able to persuade him if they even thought for a second Sirius was guilty.'

'How do you feel about it, Harry?' Hermione asked gently.

Although he was optimistic about Sirius' innocence, there was a knot in his stomach that had not gone away since last night.

What if.

What if, by some chance, Sirius does wind back up in Azkaban because the Ministry are too moronic to realise he was only guilty of grieving. They did it once, they could do it again.

Then what was he supposed to do?

Harry had dreamed of this moment many times locked up in his spider infested cupboard; he dreamed of family other than the Dursley's coming to rescue him from their clutches, and it never happened. He gave up pretty quickly. Now it was a real possibility and that terrified him more than he thought possible. He had no idea how to have a family.

What if, as it had when he was merely a baby, this opportunity was snatched away from him?

He did not want to get his hopes up just for them to be cruelly dashed again.

'I think Ron's right. Wormtail is in custody and all the evidence to back Sirius up. What could go wrong?' said Harry nonchalantly.

It was not something he really wanted to discuss with the other two just yet. He already knew exactly what they would say, and while he would fully appreciate the effort Ron and Hermione would go to, nothing anyone could say would make a difference. It would not take away the anxiety Harry was currently feeling. Only the trial could do that.

'Hopefully nothing,' said Hermione. 'You're right, all the evidence is on his side.'

'Are you coming in to Hogsmeade or are you going to stay with Sirius?' Ron asked, adding a, 'Sorry,' as he accidentally sprayed Hermione with pieces of sausage as he spoke.

'Actually Sirius wants us all to meet him back in Lupin's office in about an hour and a half to begin reading the books,' Harry informed them.

Despite their poor effort of trying to be discreet, Harry could clearly see the glances exchanged between Ron and Hermione at the mention of the books.

'Are you going to be okay with that?' Ron asked carefully.

Harry shrugged. 'I'm not sure,' he replied honestly, 'but Sirius has pitched a pretty good point. I've got to give them a chance. There must be a reason for these books being sent back. There has to be a _good_ reason to change the future, and it's not written in stone, so whatever happens in the books doesn't have to happen.'

Harry also didn't miss the sighs of relief his two friends let out at his words.

'Do you two mind missing the last Hogsmeade day?'

'Not really, mate. I've still got a supply of sweets left over from last time we went, and besides, I can just get Fred and George to bring back a crate of Butterbeer for us.'

Hermione frowned. 'Didn't the letter say we needed to read them with Snape?'

'Yeah,' said Harry grumpily. It was one thing for them to read about him but Snape? All he needed was more ammunition to be a git to him in class. Harry was embarrassed to have his thoughts aired out in front of his friends, but he was absolutely mortified for Snape to hear it.

'How are we going to convince him to sit down and read it with us?'

'Who cares about that,' said Ron. 'I think the more important question is why do we have to read it with him?'

'Sirius thinks it's because he plays an important part later on, although I can't see how.'

'Well we're just going to have to read them and find out,' Hermione pointed out.

Both Harry and Ron groaned simultaneously.

'Kill me now, Harry.'

* * *

Nearly two hours later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked in the opposite direction to the students lining up for the final visit to Hogsmeade, and headed for Lupin's office.

Harry's stomach was doing a somersault inside him the entire way there.

If he didn't want to continue reading, they didn't have to.

But they have an advantage no one else ever gets. How could he turn that down?

He couldn't. Even if he despised it more than anything, Harry would have to sit there, grit his teeth together, and suck it up for the sake of everyone else.

Not wanting to cause any panic, Harry knocked on the front of Lupin's office door and announced, 'It's us,' before carefully opening the door to allow the three of them inside.

To the surprise of all three, Snape was already there, sat in the corner with a face like thunder and his arms folded across his chest, his wand clenched tightly in his hand. Not even an earthquake could tear his wand from him. Someone was going to end up in the Hospital Wing. Snape looked like he wanted to be there about the same amount as Harry did currently.

'Good, you've arrived,' Sirius said jovially. He was getting quite a lot of satisfaction from Snape's discomfort. 'We're all here at last. Is everyone ready to start reading?'

No.

'I guess,' said Ron, still staring in disgust at the Potions Master.

Sirius clapped his hands together. 'Excellent. We have drinks is anyone gets parched and snacks if anyone feels peckish, although you should have all filled up with a hearty breakfast. Most important meal of the day, you know.'

As soon as Sirius said those words, Ron's eyes widened and he made a beeline for it.

'You've _just_ eaten, Ronald!'

'I'm a growing man.'

Hermione snorted loudly.

'Please make Sirius stop,' Harry whispered to Lupin, as Ron and Hermione continued to bicker.

'Believe me, I wish I could. Nothing can stop your godfather.'

'How did you get Snape here anyway?' Harry asked curiously.

Lupin smirked slyly, his eyes flickering to his old classmate. 'I have my ways.'

'Come on,' Harry urged desperately. He definitely had to know what could have caused Snape to drop everything to sit down and read these books with them. It had to have been something juicy. Perhaps he could use it as leverage for their classes together next year...

'I just told him I would tell people about his childhood crush.'

'That's it?'

'Yeah.'

The tone in Lupin's voice told Harry there was more to this story. Why would they be interested in a crush Snape had when he was a kid? Unless they knew the person. One way or another he would find out. He would have to try Sirius...

'There's not much room in here with everyone. Moony had to get the smallest office. Maybe we should take it in the back. I've got a pretty decent set up in there.'

All of them, including a very disgruntled and disinterested Snape, moved in to the back, where Harry had received his Patronus lessons. Where the trunk containing the Boggart once was, there was now bean bags of varying colours and large cushions scattered on the ground forming a circle.

'Gather round people, gather round,' called Sirius, throwing himself down in to the black bean bag. The book was in his hand, propped open to the first chapter. 'I'm going to read first and then we can take it in turns.' He glanced at Snape. 'Or whoever wants to read can.'

'Count me out,' said Ron instantly, taking a seat next to Harry in a blue bean bag.

'Severus, will you take a seat.' Sirius was not asking despite the unnaturally pleasant tone to his voice.

Snape's lip curled. 'I think not, Black.'

'Why not? They're comfy.' Sirius smirked as he wiggled in his bean bag.

The wand in Snape's hand twitched.

Sirius was going to die before he could find out whether he would try become a free man.

Lupin began rubbing his temples. 'Severus, please.' It was going to be a long day...

Snape moved stiffly towards the only vacant seat in the room, muttering obscenities under his breath.

'Today, Snivellus.'

'Sirius!' Lupin's voice was one of warning. His headache was surely turning in to a migraine. 'Severus, please, take a seat. The sooner you do, the sooner we can read, and the sooner we can get through these books so the pair of you can be as far away from each other as possible.'

With his lip curled in disdain, Snape sat himself down in a bean bag in between Lupin and Hermione. It was clear he had underestimated how far down the chair would go and found himself struggling to sit upright. The chair engulfed him. The sight of their Professor struggling caused Harry and Ron to snort loudly.

'Detention!' Snape snarled. If looks could kill...

'Worth it,' Ron mumbled under his breath, just loud enough for Harry to hear him.

'Lighten up, Severus,' Sirius said, enjoying every second of the spectacle. 'Right, is everyone ready? Yes, good.' Sirius cleared his throat rather dramatically. 'Okay, chapter one is called The Riddle House.'

* * *

 **Updates should come more regularly now that they're heading in to book territory.**

 **Review!**


	6. Chapter 5

**So it's been what? Eight months since I last updated... I'm sorry! I have had a busy year - lots of new beginnings. A new job, new home, new nephew. It's all been an exciting time. I know it's been a long time - are people still interested in this story? If so, thank you so much. I'm absolutely horrendous at replying to reviews, but I am so thankful and appreciative of every single one. Thank you for taking the time to send me one.**

* * *

 **Chapter Five**

Harry's life had never exactly been normal. Not once, despite the exhaustive efforts his aunt and uncle had gone to in order to, as they put it, 'stamp the magic out of him'. From his birth, to the death of his parents and the moment he was left on the doorstep of Number Four, Privet Drive, on a cold, damp November morning; to the first time he had been recognised as the 'Boy Who Lived' for the very first time by a man dressed in a cloak, who had taken one look at him, eyes as wide as saucers, and let out a high pitched squeal, then scurried off as though he could not believe his eyes (not that Harry knew until much later on as to why this bizarre exchange had happened); to the moment he remembered performing his first piece of accidental magic, wondering how on earth he had managed to get on the school roof when just mere seconds before his feet had been planted firmly on the ground; to the moment he finally discovered he was a wizard and had been accepted to a magical school to learn under some of the best witches and wizards in the country and world, and to everything that had happened to him over the past three years in magical education.

There was nothing normal about Harry Potter.

Regardless of all the things that had happened to him, nothing could beat hearing about events which had yet to happen. Even facing off against his first Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, who happened to have the face of the man who had murdered Harry's parents growing out of the back of his head, had not been as bizarre as this was and that was saying something.

The book begun with a house - The Riddle House, as the chapter was titled. As Sirius read on, Harry discovered this house was situated in a village called Little Hangleton. Harry had never even heard of it before. He pondered how on earth this village and its house was connected to him.

'You'll have to let me read on to find out,' Sirius said, his eyes dancing with mirth. 'I haven't even finished the first page yet!'

This took Harry by surprise - he hadn't realised he had thought out loud.

'I'm sure there's a reason for it,' said Remus. His voice was soft, but his grey eyes were hard as steel. Something about these books did not feel right to him, but he could not yet point his finger at it. The reassuring smile on his face did little to quell the unease Harry was beginning to feel settling in his stomach.

The more Sirius read on, the more the unease grew among those present in the room. Things were beginning to get strange. The inhabitants of the Riddle House had all dropped dead. Very strange indeed.

It was this which wiped the smile off Remus' face. 'That sounds like the Killing Curse to me.'

The atmosphere in the room was tense. Everyone was on edge and waiting for Sirius to continue reading, but, at the same time, no one wanted to continue reading since they were only one page in to the rather large book and there had already been three deaths. This was going to be a very long day.

'Elderly Mr and Mrs Riddle had been rich, snobbish and rude, and their grown up son, Tom, had been even more so...'

Harry stopped listening to Sirius at this point. A light bulb had just gone off in his head.

 _Tom Riddle_.

That name was familiar and he knew exactly why.

Last year, as he fought for his and Ginny's lives down in the Chamber of Secrets, Harry had encountered the memory of Tom Riddle, in a corporeal form of his sixteen-year-old self. Riddle, Harry thought, was not a common name in either the wizarding or Muggle worlds. How many other Tom Riddle's could there be? How many Tom Riddle's connected to Harry could there be? It seemed like too much of a coincidence for there to be another family with that surname, also with a son named Tom, in a book about Harry, and with everything Harry had witnessed in the past three years, he wasn't entirely certain he even believed in coincidences.

However, there was one thing troubling Harry. Voldemort had perished the night he murdered Harry's parents. Although, as the events of Harry's first year had proven, it had only been Voldemort's physical body which had been destroyed that night. So what did this mean? Who was the Tom Riddle mentioned in the books? What connection did he have to Voldemort? During one of the conversations he had with Tom Riddle, he mentioned how he was raised in an orphanage. Was this the reason for that? Then again, these books were supposed to be documenting the future, not the past, unless it was a flashback to set the scene.

An aching pain that had begun behind Harry's eyes several hours ago was beginning to become more pronounced and had travelled across one temple to the other. It had been a long, eventful twenty four hours.

'Tom Riddle... why does that name sound familiar?' Ron asked, his brow furrowed quizzically.

'Because it's You Know Who's real name, too,' Hermione explained quietly, cautiously glancing at the adults in the room to gauge their reactions. Two of them had already proven themselves to be quite protective of Harry. Their least favourite professor was unusually silent and sporting his signature glare and lip curl.

'Voldemort?' Sirius questioned sharply, not liking where this was going; already a page into the book and Voldemort's name had been mentioned. Did everything that happened to his godson always have to be linked to Voldemort? The loud thump of his heart gave him the answer he was looking for. Could that kid, who had a heart of gold and was so much like his parents, catch a break anytime soon? Judging that they had more books to read after this one, Sirius thought it was highly unlikely.

Almost immediately at the sound of his name, Ron and Hermione both let out a sharp intake of breath, shuddering in their seats. Harry rolled his eyes. It happened every single time. If the pair of them wanted to remain in the room to read, which he knew they both did, then they would have to get over it and fast.

'You didn't think Voldemort was his actual name now, did you?' Harry teased, attempting to inject some humour into the situation. The atmosphere was suddenly so tense that you wouldn't have even been able to cut it with a knife.

Sirius raised his eyebrows. 'Are you kidding? Look at who you're talking to - my parents named me Sirius. I have a cousin called Andromeda, who has a daughter called Nymphadora. It could all be the inbreeding in my family, but they're quite prone to giving their children ridiculous names.'

'Inbreeding?' Hermione wasn't really sure she wanted to know but curiosity got the better of her.

'Wizarding families, in particular the older pure-blood families, are obsessed with ensuring their blood lines are not tarnished with anything other than, you guessed it, pure blood. Most are all interelated because if you want the purest blood in your family, your choice of a husband or wife for your son or daughter is extremely limited. Even my own parents were second cousins.'

Hermione had been right in the beginning - she really didn't want to know. Ignorance is bliss, as they say.

'My cousin, Andromeda, is probably one of the only decent relatives I have,' Sirius continued on, bitterness leaking in to his voice. Azkaban had robbed him of the only family, aside from James and Remus, that he could depend on. 'She married a Muggle-Born and was disowned for it.'

'So, Tom Riddle is Voldemort's real name?' Remus returned the conversation to its original direction. He knew what his old friend was like when faced with nostalgia. For Remus, nostalgia was a fairly innocent place to visit every now and again, but for Sirius, who had spent a good portion of his life imprisoned, nostalgia was lethal.

Harry nodded. 'Yeah. He wanted to fashion himself a new name, one that wasn't a reminder of his half-blood status.'

The look on Sirius' face was akin to that of a child's on Christmas day. 'Wait, you're telling me that Voldemort, one of the most feared wizards our generation has ever seen, has Muggle ancestory?'

'His father was a Muggle who disowned his wife, Voldemort's mother, because she was a witch. He grew up in an orphanage,' Harry explained, recalling the conversation he had with the sixteen-year-old Tom Riddle down in the Chamber of Secrets. 'He wanted a name people would fear when he supposedly became the greatest sorcerer in the world, and he's getting what he wants when people are too afraid to say his name,' Harry added, with a pointed stare at his friends.

Hermione smiled meekly. 'I guess you do have a point when you put it like that.'

'Just out of curiosity, Hermione, why _are_ you afraid to hear and say his name?' Remus asked not unkindly. He could understand, to a fair degree, the children who had grown up hearing tales of Voldemort from their parents and had grown to fear him, but for Hermione, who had grown up away from the wizarding world, with the first time ever hearing of Voldemort being at eleven-years-old when she finally arrived at Hogwarts, Remus could not understand how she could be so scared of something as simple as a name.

Hermione pondered over the question for a few moments. She appeared to be struggling with answering. In all honesty, now that she had thought about it, she didn't think she had a valid answer to give her professor. 'I'm not sure,' she admitted truthfully. 'I guess I don't really have one. I mean, I came to Hogwarts with barely any prior knowledge -'

Ron snorted loudly. 'Barely any prior knowledge? Who are you kidding, Hermione? You had all our textbooks memorised before you had even boarded the train!'

The lip curl Severus was sporting became more defined. Granger was too eager to please, which would usually be encouraged by most of the other professors in the school, however Severus was of the mind that she would occasionally hinder the education of some of the other students. Although, he had to admit that it became difficult to endure when he had dunces such as Neville Longbottom in his classroom. That boy should have never been allowed near a cauldron, let alone a Potions classroom.

'I had no idea what was expected of me,' Hermione retorted, her cheeks tinged pink. 'As I was saying, I had no prior knowledge of Hogwarts or the wizarding world until I went to Diagon Alley for the first time and bought some books. I thought that if I bought some books, read up on the wizarding world, then I wouldn't be so out of place at Hogwarts. No matter what book I read, his name was always styled as You-Know-Who, and that was how everyone I asked referred to him. I learned quite early on that people did not like to speak about him, so I stopped asking after a while. His name just stuck as it was, and once I came to Hogwarts, I heard everyone other than Harry call him by the pseudonym. The name just stuck.'

'Just remember, nothing can happen to you from just saying a name,' Remus said with a warm, gentle smile.

'You're giving him what he wants by being afraid to hear or say it,' Harry reminded his friends.

'Old habit to break,' Ron said, although he wasn't entirely convinced. He looked at his best friend, who openly spoke the name and had fought You-Know-Who for two years running (he was very, yet pleasantly, surprised how quiet on the He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named front this year had turned out to be), so forgive him if he wasn't entirely convinced nothing bad would happen from just simply uttering a name. Harry didn't have the best track record.

'You could always call him Tom,' Harry grinned. 'He would hate that.'

Sirius snorted. 'Can you imagine the look on his face when, mid battle, you call him Tom. No, I've just had a much better idea - Tommy! Oh, how I would kill to be able to face him.'

'Can we get back to reading this goddamn book!' Severus snapped suddenly. He did not want to endure more time with Black, Lupin, and the brats than he had to. Severus closed his eyes, inhaled through his nose and exhaled through his mouth. He repeated this action three more times. He had been subjected to some of the most barbaric curses known to man, yet this right here, reading a book about Potter with Black, Lupin, and the brats was a brand new method of torture. After careful consideration, Severus decided the Cruciatus Curse would be less painful than this.

Sirius opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by Remus, who quietly said, 'Don't bother, Padfoot. He has a point, we have gone a bit off topic, and the sooner we can get through these books then the sooner we won't have to indulge in his company.'

'I know, I know, you're right,' said Sirius with a sigh. 'Doesn't mean I have to like it though.'

With one rather disdainful glare at his old enemy, Sirius picked up from where he left off. He had only read a paragraph before he was interrupted again.

'Sounds like something my Auntie Muriel would do,' Ron said, shaking his head as it was revealed the entire village had turned out to discuss the murders. 'Loves a good gossip does Muriel.'

 _Just breathe_ , Severus reminded himself. _Weasley is a student..._

As Sirius continued the chapter, it was revealed that the Riddle's gardener had been arrested over the Riddle family murders.

'Frank Bryce?' Remus racked his brains but came up blank - the name was not at all familiar. 'I don't think I recognise the name.'

'These villagers are eager, aren't they?' Sirius said darkly. 'For all they know, he could have been framed. It's always guilty until proven otherwise.'

Assumptions destroy lives, Sirius knew this all too well. If this Frank character was indeed found innocent, his life would never be the same again in that village. Whispers and stares would follow him wherever he went.

'Sounds like the Killing Curse,' Remus repeated himself from earlier. The autopsy report had come back for all three Riddle's. There had been no indication of poison or asphyxiation, and no discovery of any gunshot or stab wounds.

'What's a gun?' Ron asked curiously.

'It's a weapon Muggles use, mostly in war. It's designed to expel projectiles that can kill,' Hermione explained matter-of-factly. 'They're quite a controversial topic around the world.'

'Why?'

'Because in some parts of the world, anyone can have access to one, and more often than not, a lot of people have died because of them.'

'Oh.'

'Frightened to death... definitely the Killing Curse,' Remus said solemnly.

'It sounds like Voldemort,' Sirius said grimly. 'It's his MO, and they all share a name. What do you think - a revenge attack for leaving him to grow up in an orphanage? For abandoning his mother for being a witch?'

'It's a possibility,' Remus agreed. 'Let's read on and find out.'

Frank, it turned out, had been released from custody and returned to his cottage on the house grounds. Despite this, the village was convinced he was guilty.

'Of course he shouldn't leave,' Hermione said angrily. 'That is his home! He has every right to stay there.'

'If it was me, I would leave,' said Sirius.

'And give them the satisfaction of knowing they drove you out of town?' Hermione shot back.

Sirius sighed, he knew she meant well, but she was a tad bit naive. 'It's not about satisfaction. It's about not having reminders at every corner. It's about being able to step outside and see someone smiling at you because they're not afraid you're going to whip your wand out and kill them where they stand. It's about being able to go out for a drink and not hearing the whispers and feeling the stares digging holes into you. It's about not feeling unsafe and lonely. When people have made their minds up about you, it's difficult to change their perspective.'

'Maybe so,' Hermione said, her voice softer this time, 'but you still shouldn't have to leave your home because people are too obsessed with gossip instead of the actual truth.'

'Not every person has a kind heart like you do, Hermione.' Sirius smiled; Harry had good friends. It warmed his heart to see.

Frank, they discovered a bit further on in the chapter, stayed at the cottage for years, seeing the house be sold from person to person, yet each time he stayed to care for the garden. Due to the murders that had taken place, the house then became a hot spot for rambunctious kids, who would break into the house, vandalise it, and start fires. Frank, ever the caretaker, decided to head into the house, even with his bad leg, and scare the wits out of the kids, hoping to deter them from ever breaking into the house again.

'Frank is either incredibly brave of incredibly foolish,' Remus said with a shake of his head.

The unease in Harry's stomach grew. He had no idea why but he had a bad feeling about this, a feeling that was proven correct on the next sentence Sirius uttered.

'Voldemort.' There weren't many people referred to as 'The Dark Lord'.

Harry was prepared for Sirius to keep reading, to find out why Voldemort was there, but Sirius was oddly quiet. Glancing up at his godfather, Harry could see Sirius' hands, which were as white as his face, shaking.

'What's the matter?' Harry couldn't hide his concern. 'Sirius?'

'Padfoot,' Remus tried when Harry did not receive an answer. 'What's wrong?'

' _Wormtail_.'

'Padfoot, he's in custody at the moment, remember? We caught him. He's not going to get away with it for a second longer. You're going to be free.'

Sirius' heart was hammering in his chest. It took an enormous amount of effort for him to continue reading.

'Wait, did you say the Quidditch World Cup?' Ron asked suddenly. 'That's this summer.'

 _Summer_... Harry knew the books were based on him in the future but, for some reason, he did not expect them to be so soon. He had no idea why he was so surprised, it wasn't as though any part of his life had been normal.

'Well, if we weren't sure before, we definitely are now - Frank is a Muggle,' Remus commented, as Sirius explained Frank's confusion at words such as 'Quidditch', 'Muggle', and 'Wizards'.

' _It could be done without_...' Sirius read, stopping suddenly. His heart sank.

'Done without what? Padfoot?

Sirius took a deep breath. ' _Without Harry Potter_.' He spoke through gritted teeth.

'What can be done without me?' Harry questioned sharply.

'That's what I'd like to know,' Sirius responded solemnly. Why was it always his godson?

Sirius found it difficult to read Peter's words, particularly when he proclaimed to Voldemort how little Harry meant to him. It was such a different tune he spoke compared to the day Harry was born, a day Sirius would always remember as one of the best days of his life. While Harry was not his own son, he cared and loved for that kid as though he were, and he, along with Remus and Peter, vowed to always protect him for as long as they drew breath.

 _What happened to you?_ Sirius wondered. What had happened to Peter to turn him into such a selfish coward? Where had they gone wrong?

Sirius read on, faster, in a bid to find out what Voldemort wanted with his godson.

'Yeah, he is,' Ron burst out angrily as Wormtail voiced his doubts on being able to use Harry for an unknown task due to how well protected he is. 'Dumbledore wouldn't let anything happen to Harry.'

'Neither will we,' Sirius said confidently, a small, not all that reassuring, smile on his face.

Harry was grateful for the attempt, and his heart swelled at his words. It did not matter how long Harry had known Sirius for, for the sincerity in his voice could not be denied. He had to admit, it did feel odd having an adult that wasn't his best friend's parents feel concern over him. There was an unfamiliar sensation in the centre of his chest where he is not proud to admit jealousy once lived; jealousy from seeing his best friend being taken care of and fussed over by his own parents. Harry lost count of how many times he had hoped and dreamed of his own mother causing such a scene over his hair as Molly Weasley did to Ron.

Everyone was waiting with bated breath to hear the rest of Voldemort's plan, including Severus, although it was not as though he would ever admit it.

'There is a possibility,' Hermione began, her voice nowhere near as convicing as her words, 'that with Pettigrew in custody that none of this will ever happen. In the books, he's with V-Voldemort -' Both Harry and Ron's heads snapped up in her direction, both sporting identical thunderstruck expressions, to which Hermione ignored and continued with her sentence, '- but we caught him and, unless he escapes, which I doubt he will, then there's no chance at all he's going to ever wind up in V-Voldemort's company again.'

'You said his name.' Harry was grinning now.

'Fear of a name only increases fear for the thing itself, right?'

'Right you are, Hermione,' Remus said proudly.

It was at the mention of Bertha Jorkins that Severus sat up a little straighter, giving the book, and Black, his full, undivided attention. They captured or killed Bertha, but what would they need with her? Severus vaguely remembered her from his Hogwarts days; she was a few years older than he, and while he did not know her personally, he knew of her and knew how dim she were. What could she have that the Dark Lord needed?

'Bertha was a few years older than us in school,' Sirius said, gesturing to himself and Remus, 'and she was a terrible gossip and a compulsive liar. She was forever getting others into trouble. Too nosy for her own good and lacked common sense. Even so, she doesn't deserve this.'

'Well, this is part of the reason we have these books - to stop this from happening and save people,' Remus reminded him. 'We have no reason to believe that Bertha has been taken yet. She could still be safe and sound at home, but we'll double check once we're out of here.'

'You know what?' Sirius said, looking somewhat disturbed. 'I never thought I would see the day that I agreed with Voldemort.' The man was a raving lunatic, but at least he was an honest one; Wormtail could never claim to be the brains behind the Marauders and his loyalty was only to the one he thought he could benefit the most from. He was nothing more than a selfish coward.

Bertha Jorkins' disappearance troubled Severus. The Dark Lord and Pettigrew were discussing how invaluable she was, that she was _useful_. What and why? What did dimwitted Bertha Jorkins know? He would have to keep an eye on her, providing she hadn't already disappeared...

Frank had been listening to the exchange between Voldemort and Wormtail this whole time they were discussing Bertha Jorkins' murder. As any sane person would, Frank's first instinct was to creep away from the house and alert the police. However -

'The police won't be able to help,' Hermione said sadly.

'Nagini? Is that another Death Eater?' Ron asked, frowning. He was glaring right at his professor, who, as he had for the majority of the chapter, refused to utter a single word.

 _Weasley is a student_.

'Never mind, it's a snake,' Ron deduced as it was revealed You-Know-Who began spitting and hissing in place of speaking. That meant one thing - he was speaking Parseltongue.

Harry's heart stopped. Voldemort could speak Parseltongue. Nagini is a snake. Nagini could converse back to him. Nagini had seen Frank in the hallway... this was not going to end well for Frank, although, despite that, it did not stop Harry from crossing his fingers and hoping. From the somber atmosphere that had come over the room, like a sudden thunderstorm, Harry concluded that his thoughts were nearly identical to that of everyone else's.

Sirius read on, barely taking a breath in order to get the words out faster. Voldemort knew he was there. Even without a problem with his leg, Frank never would have been able to disappear from there quick enough. Of age wizards would be able to disapparate. Muggles, on the other hand, stood no chance. It was taking all his strength complete this chapter, which, after being on the run for the best part of a year, was not a lot to begin with.

 _Frank is either incredibly brave or incredibly foolish_. Remus thought about the comment he made earlier. For anyone, Muggle or not, to stand tall in front of Voldemort, to dare speak to him, and demand he face him, showed an immense amount of bravery. Frank surely knew what was about to happen to him.

'He's a monster,' Hermione whispered, her voice tinged with sadness. Being a self-proclaimed bookworm, Hermione had read many a book from every genre she could get her hands on; she had read death scenes before now, yet despite that and despite reminding herself that this was merely a book, she found her resolve wavering. Voldemort claimed not to be a man and he was right - he was nothing more than a monster; a heartless monster.

It was taking longer than Sirius wanted to read through this section. He had seen the Killing Curse being performed with his very own eyes; hell, he had even narrowly missed it on numerous occasions. Perhaps it was the imagery associated with the description written down in the book that made it difficult to read on with considerable speed (his initial decision was to read as quickly as he physically could, getting this section over and done with, like ripping off a plaster).

'... _woke with a start_.' Sirius dropped the book as though it were a hot plate and he had scalded his hands on it. 'That's the end. I'm all done. Someone else can read instead of me.'

'I'll read the next chapter,' Remus volunteered, picking the book up from where Sirius had dropped it onto the floor. 'Chapter two is _The Scar_.'

* * *

 **Thank you so much for taking time out to read this even after my extended hiatus. I will not promise how quickly updates will come, but, if this chapter has shown you anything, it's that I do fully intend to update at some point.**

 **I would be most grateful if you could leave a review on your way out.**


	7. Chapter 6

**I'm going to have to apologise for the long wait for this chapter. Who knew that when you started adulting that life would get hectic! I'm currently sick, which is when I seem to have most of the time to write these days, and I'm off work for two weeks over Christmas starting next week, so I'm actually going to have some more time to write more. If you're still reading this, thank you. That being said, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter Six**

 **'I'll read the next chapter,' Remus volunteered, picking the book up from where Sirius had dropped it onto the floor. 'Chapter two is** _ **The Scar**_ **.'**

Harry's hand instinctively went to his forehead where the lightning bolt shaped scar he had been branded with resided. Aside from the occasional prickle (usually when Voldemort was near, as he had discovered during his first year at Hogwarts; he could not, at first, figure out why his scar always hurt during his Defence Against the Dark Arts class until he discovered his professor has Voldemort attached to the back of his head, hiding beneath his dirty, purple turban), his scar very rarely bothered him. Harry was more self-conscious about it than anything else. In both worlds - Muggle and magical - Harry's scar was a sign he was different. However, while he was revered in the magical world, hailed as some hero for finally bringing about peace from Voldemort's reign of terror, in the Muggle world Harry was simply Harry, ridiculed and taunted. At least that was until his aunt, uncle, and cousin became terrified of him performing magic in the house, which reminded him -

This past summer, Harry had blown up his Aunt Marge, threatened his uncle, and ran away from Privet Drive. Harry groaned loudly; he didn't have a lot of term time left until he was due to return to the Dursley's. He was _really_ not looking forward to going back there this summer. There was one small saving grace, however - Sirius. Providing it all went well and they could clear his name, Harry could have a new home. Sirius did invite Harry to live with him after all...

Sirius, having heard Harry groaning, turned to his godson, concern etched in every single line of his gaunt face. 'What's the matter? Are you okay?' he asked quickly.

'It's nothing, I'm fine,' Harry smiled, hoping to reassure the older man.

'Am I good to read?' Remus asked the room at large. The previous chapter had taken a toll on them all.

While none of them knew Frank personally, they all felt his loss. Even in death, Frank exhibited courage where most, including the most formidable witches and wizards, would have fled in fear. Remus had seen it during the war with Voldemort. From the tender age of eighteen, fresh out of school, Remus had been on the front line, narrowly escaping with his life on more than one occasion (almost being murdered was merely a typical Tuesday afternoon), and had been witness to some of the more highly skilled witches and wizards fleeing, unwilling to risk their lives and those of their families, something which Remus could honestly not blame them for. The war was unlike one Remus had ever heard of before. The death toll increased by dozens every single day, mostly innocent, defenceless men, women, and children. Frank showed more courage and strength than most would in his situation. However, wasn't that the whole point of these books - to change the future? Remus hoped with all of his heart that they were not too late to save Frank.

There was a murmur of agreement to continue reading from all but one around the room. The stony faced Potions Master remained silent, listening intently. While he was less than thrilled to listen to more of Potter's internal monologue, Severus had to admit he was morbidly curious to hear more. Severus could not tell if it was due to a much stronger force, but he felt something deep inside him - a feeling of familiarity that he could not put his finger on that was mixed with anxiety. What was the Dark Lord planning?

Severus' inner musings were interrupted by Potter.

'That was a dream?'

'That's what is written down here in black and white.'

There was a question burning at the tip of Harry's tongue that he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to ask. Harry believed he had a good idea of what the answer would be.

However, before Harry had a chance to decide what he was going to do, Ron had already voiced the same burning question inside Harry.

'Did this Frank bloke really die then or was it just a dream?'

'You know,' Harry began with a badly aimed attempt to keep the annoyance out of his voice, 'you two are really terrible at hiding what you're really thinking.'

Both Sirius and Remus looked like two children who had been caught red handed stealing sweets before dinner. The pair of them had exchanged worried glances with one another.

Sirius considered his words carefully before answering. 'We know as much as you do. There's a reason it was mentioned, and the fact your scar, and not your head, was hurting when you woke up is a reason to be concerned. Your scar is the first of its kind; there's no other like it for us to compare with - you're the first and only person to ever survive the Killing Curse, so we're going in a bit blind with it.'

Harry didn't have to be a mind reader in order to read between the lines of what Sirius _didn't_ say.

'We just need to remember that Peter Pettigrew is in custody. We've already changed the future in one way,' said Hermione as the book, once again, made mention of Wormtail.

 _That's one of two things currently getting me through,_ Sirius thought to himself. He glanced sideways at his godson, eyes fixated on Remus as he read through another paragraph. Harry was his main reason and focus for ensuring his freedom.

For years, Sirius had one goal - to find and kill Wormtail. There had been many occasions, whilst lying on the cold, hard floor of Azkaban prison, where clearing his name had seemed like nothing more than a pipe dream that would never be fulfilled. It was on the days when he was feeling the most guilty, the most heartbroken over James and Lily's deaths, that he remained in his human form and allowed the Dementors to feed on that dream. He didn't deserve his freedom, not when James and Lily were six feet underground.

Now, however, that focus had shifted - clearing his name was no longer a pipe dream. Sirius' chest felt loose, like the band that had been around it for two years, tightening with every new year he spent behind bars, had been cut off. For the first time in twelve years, he could breathe unrestricted again. Each inhale and exhale of breath was a drug to him - he was addicted to it.

Harry had given him a new purpose. There was a moment during their initial meeting in the Shrieking Shack the night before where Sirius had resigned himself into thinking that Harry despised him with every fiber of his being, and rightly so. As Sirius had explained to Harry that night, he was responsible for James and Lily's deaths. Had it not been for him suggesting they use Wormtail as their Secret Keeper, James and Lily may still be alive to this day. Despite that, and by some miracle, Harry didn't hate him. Now was Sirius' chance to make it up to his godson. Sirius would spend the remainder of his life ensuring Harry's would be the best it could be.

'I'm not sure I want to know what You-Know-Who looks like,' said Ron with a shudder as Harry in the book attempted to remember what the You-Know-Who in his dream looked like.

Luckily for Ron, Harry couldn't remember, but he did recall the fact You-Know-Who was, once again, plotting to kill him.

'What's new?' said Harry, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

'I get the feeling you've been through this before.' Half of Sirius was curious, the other half concerned. How often had Harry been the target of an attempted by murder by a raving lunatic?

'Maybe once or twice,' said Harry nonchalantly, shrugging it off.

Sirius' eyes narrowed at Harry's words but he let it slide. They would have plenty of time to discuss it later on.

'How in Merlin's name did you manage to lose _all_ the bones in your arm?' Remus asked incredulously.

'Ever heard of Gilderoy Lockhart?' Ron asked with a grin.

While a part of him did feel somewhat guilty about Lockhart's current state, there was an even bigger part of him that really did not care. The guy was completely mental, not to mention a liar and a fraud, and had been about to wipe both his and Harry's memories, as well as leave Ginny for dead in the Chamber of Secrets. It was for those reasons that Ron just could not bring himself to feel all that sorry for Lockhart.

'He was in school when we were,' said Remus, gesturing to himself and Sirius.' He was a few years younger than us... a Ravenclaw, I think...'

'I know who you're on about,' Sirius said with a chuckle. 'He loved himself, thought he was a gift to the world, and claimed he was going to be the youngest ever Minister for Magic.'

Ron was left open-mouthed, sporting an expression of pure horror. 'Him? Minister for Magic? We'd all be dead within a month; he would have spent more time looking at his own reflection that actually doing work.'

Hermione let out a long, deep sigh. Even she, who had spent a good portion of last year defending Lockhart, couldn't find it in her heart to continue doing so. She had been incredibly foolish to believe what he had written in his books to be fact, when in reality he was the biggest fraud going, probably even more so than Trelawney. What made it worse was that Harry and Ron had both tried to tell her, but her silly school girl crush had made her blind to the truth, and if it hadn't have been for her two best friends, there would still be a Basilisk roaming the school.

'How bad could he have been?' Remus asked curiously. 'He had been rather irritating, but harmless in school.'

Severus snorted loudly, causing amused reactions from many around the room. Gilderoy Lockhart was many things, however, harmless had never been one of them. Minerva had come bounding into Severus' private chambers once it had been announced Dumbledore had appointed Lockhart as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Minerva had been worried Dumbledore had truly lost the remaining sanity he had as she, too, recalled Lockhart from his school days. While Severus was irked to have been, once again, passed over for the position in favour of the bumbling buffoon, regardless of the fact there had been a reason for it (there was _always_ a reason where Dumbledore was concerned), Severus felt indifferent having him in the castle... in the beginning, that was, until the fool felt he knew more about Potions than he, Professor Severus Snape, one of the youngest qualified Potion Masters in the world. The idiot had attempted to hijack one of his classes, mixed two ingredients that should under no circumstances ever be used together, which resulted in three of Severus' students being sent to the Hospital Wing. Severus had almost broken his promise to Dumbledore that no student or teacher would ever be harmed by his hand within the walls of the castle. Fortunately for Lockhart, Severus had been taught more self-control than that.

Sirius turned to his friend, looking downright enraged. 'Moony, did you really just describe him as _harmless_? Do you not remember the time he sabotaged the Quidditch Pitch, thus resulting in the cessation of the all important Gryffindor versus Slytherin game?'

'Padfoot, that was almost fifteen years ago,' said Remus, shaking his head. 'Don't tell me you're still hung up on that?'

'Damn right I am,' Sirius said proudly. 'Gryffindor would have pummelled them to the ground.'

'If I recall correctly, Black,' Severus piped up in his trademark drawl, 'Potter had been out of commission for that game due to injuries sustained in a duel.'

'My dad was in a duel?'

'I would have been there backing him up but I had detention.'

'What did you do?' Ron asked eagerly.

Sirius opened his mouth to answer, his grey eyes sparkling with mirth, but before he had a chance to even get one word out, Remus had interrupted -

'Let's not give them any ideas, Padfoot. I am a teacher, after all.'

Sirius leaned in closer to Harry. 'I'll tell you boys about it later.'

'So, getting back on topic,' Remus said, 'how did you lose all the bones in your arm, Harry?'

'I was hit by a Bludger during a Quidditch match,' Harry began explaining, making a conscious decision to refrain from mentioning the Bludger had been set upon him by Dobby. 'Instead of allowing Madam Pomfrey to mend my broken arm, Lockhart thought he could do it better himself and he ended up completely _removing_ the bones in my arm. It took all night for them to grow back.'

'That must have been painful,' Remus said sympathetically. He, too, had gone through a similar process once before.

'You have no idea.'

Remus merely smiled kindly in response. There was no getting into _that_ now, not when the kids had just started to trust him again. Hearing your teacher was not only one of your parents best friends but also a werewolf, and that the man convicted of murdering said parents was innocent, while your best friend's pet rat was not really a rat but an unregistered Animagus that had been hiding for betraying your parents, resulting in their deaths, and being the one responsible for allowing your godfather to spend the last twelve years in prison for a crime he did not commit... it was a lot to take on board within a few days. Remus marvelled at how well Harry, Ron, and Hermione had coped with the entire situation. Remus swelled with pride and admiration over his three students; three of the best students he could ever have asked for. He knew James and Lily would be immensely proud of the young man Harry was turning in to.

Remus had just read one sentence of the next paragraph when he had to interrupt himself. 'Harry, what does the book mean when it says your arm was pierced by a venomous fang?'

'That it was pierced by a venomous fang,' Harry replied innocently.

'Don't get smart, Harry. His bark is much worse than his bite, believe me,' Sirius warned, although it was obvious to them all he was trying very hard to keep the humour out of his voice.

Harry sighed heavily; no doubt his escapade in the Chamber of Secrets would come to light soon enough anyway. 'I was bitten by a Basilisk whilst saving Ginny Weasley from the Chamber of Secrets.'

'A Basilisk in the... Chamber... of... Secrets...' Remus had to take a deep breath to steady himself. 'Firstly, isn't the Chamber of Secrets a myth?'

'Nope,' said Ron, a smirk on his face as he emphasised the popping of the 'p'. 'The entrance is in the girls bathroom on the second floor, the one that's haunted by Moaning Myrtle.'

'What on earth were you doing down there in the first place?'

'Well, you remember us telling you about Lockhart?'

Remus groaned. 'I'm really going to regret asking this, aren't I?' Upon hearing Lockhart had removed all the bones in Harry's arm, he took back his comment about him being completely harmless. What else had he done?

Harry grinned at his favourite professor. 'Just a little bit. Long story short is that Ginny was being possessed by Voldemort through his old diary, she let out the Basilisk hidden underneath the school and set it on the Muggle-Borns.'

'Including me,' Hermione explained softly. 'Thankfully, Professor Sprout was raising Mandrakes and all of us who had been petrified were revived before the end of the school year. I was lucky not to have missed much work, but I managed to catch up before we finished so I wouldn't have been behind this year.'

'Hermione, I'm sure your teachers would have understood if you hand't -' Sirius began to say.

'Don't waste your breath, Sirius,' Ron interrupted with a shake of his head. 'Hermione is obssessed with work.'

'Excuse me for wanting a good education!' Hermione snapped angrily.

' _Anyway_ , you were talking about the Chamber of Secrets and the giant Basilisk that bit you,' said Sirius, interrupting the bickering he could feel coming between the young witch and her red-headed companion. It was like dealing with Prongs and Lily over again.

'There's not really much to say about it. The Basilisk died, the diary containing Voldemort's soul was destroyed, and we saved Ginny.'

'What do you mean there's not much to say? There's plenty I'd like to know. How did you end up getting bitten by the Basilisk? How did you survive being bitten by a Basilisk?'

'We had to do something. Ginny was dying in the Chamber and all the other teachers left it up to Lockhart to save her,' Ron explained grimly. 'He was going to let my sister die and tell everyone that he had been too late to save her.'

'We forced him to come with us to the Chamber,' Harry continued, 'but when we got down there, he stole Ron's wand to wipe our memories -'

'- A wand that had been broken at the beginning of the year and was misfiring and causing a lot of problems, so when he tried to erase our memories the spell backfired on him.'

'Lockhart has lost his mind? That would explain his hiatus this year when last year his face was everywhere you looked.' Remus was very surprised the Daily Prophet had not commented on his incapacitation.

'Tell me about it.' Ron had never wanted to punch Draco Malfoy in the face as much as he had Gilderoy Lockhart and that was saying something. Everywhere he went in the castle, Lockhart's face was in portraits, on magazines, on textbooks, and on the walls of his own classroom.

'What happened after that then?'

'We got separated,' Harry told him. 'The spell had caused part of the Chamber to cave in. Ron was on one side and I was on the other. I had no choice but to go and find Ginny on my own.

'When I got there, she wasn't alone. Tom Riddle was there. We talked for a little bit, he told me he was the one responsible for opening the Chamber of Secrets the first time around fifty years ago, getting Hagrid expelled from Hogwarts, and being the reason why Moaning Myrtle died.'

'I'd always wondered how Moaning Myrtle snuffed it, but she doesn't like to talk about it.' Sirius had asked her once or twice. He had even piled on the charm for her, but to no avail. Myrtle had been more interested in Moony, who had flat out refused to ask her how she died, declaring that Sirius lacked tact.

'Unless you're Harry, and then she offers to share her toilet with him.'

Sirius let out his bark-like laugh. 'How very generous of her. Am I sensing a crush? Is is reciprocated?'

'Definitely not!'

'So, Harry,' said Sirius, draping his arm around his godson's shoulders, 'are there any lovely ladies catching your eye that I should know about?'

Harry could feel the heat rushing to his face.

'Padfoot, he's thirteen, leave him be.'

'This is a godfather's job, Moony.'

'Can we get back to the book?' Harry pleaded with his professor. ' _Please_.'

'I think that would be a good idea.'

'I want to hear the rest of the Basilisk story later, though.'

Harry had no doubt they would be having a long discussion later on.

' _Asleep was the way Harry liked the Dursleys best..._ '

The more Remus read, the more Sirius' heart felt like there was a knife deep inside, twisting at every word Remus spoke. He had caused this. Harry had been alone for his entire childhood and that was Sirius' doing. No child should ever have to be afraid to go to their guardians when they're in pain. No child should ever be made to feel like they have no one to confide in when they need it the most. Sirius knew this from experience, and now so did his godson. Sirius hated himself for the pain and suffering he had caused Harry.

Hearing Harry describe, in a very nonchalant way, how he had come to live with the Dursleys was another stab to his heart. Sirius felt the burning sensation of familiarity inside his chest at hearing how Harry counted the days down until he returned to the castle. Sirius' own childhood had been spent doing the exact same; hiding away in his room, crossing the days off the calendar until the first of September came around.

The one consolation to Sirius is that Harry did have good friends he could count on. The events of the previous night had proven that to Sirius. It warmed his heart to see. There was also evidence of this in the books. Remus was currently reading Harry imagining what his friends would say should he write to them, explaining the latest episode with his scar. Sirius couldn't help but grin at their reactions.

'Do I really sound like this?' Hermione asked meekly, feeling the familiar burning sensation make its way to her cheeks. This kept happening to her. Could she pass it off as the room being too hot with the amount of bodies present? _No, that'll never work, Professor Lupin would probably cast a Cooling Charm on the room..._

'Yes!' said Ron immediately. 'Every problem Harry and I have, you go straight to a book or straight to the library. You would sleep there if Madam Pince would let you.'

'Harry is right - Book Harry, that is - there's no book that could help when it comes to his scar,' Remus said. 'The only thing we can really do is keep a close eye on it.'

'And if what's happening in the book happens to you then you must let one of us know as soon as you can,' said Sirius pointedly with a stern look at Harry. Curse scars were not something to mess around with. There was no telling what impact it had on Harry.

'I will,' Harry said with a small smile. The words sounded foreign on his tongue. The whole concept of having adults in his corner was foreign to him. It caused a warm sensation in his chest, right over where his heart was beating furiously.

'You know,' Remus began, laughing loudly at Book-Harry's imagination, 'Dumbledore doesn't spend all summer in the castle, although, as amusing as the idea of Dumbledore on the beach is, I don't think he really does that.'

'Do _you_ where he goes?' Sirius questioned.

'I do not.'

'Then how do you know he doesn't lounge on a beach all day, drinking cocktails by the sea?'

Remus raised his eyebrows incredulously. 'Does that sound like Albus Dumbledore to you?'

'Yes. Yes, it does.'

Remus ignored him and continued reading.

'It doesn't sound stupid,' Sirius reassured his godson over the imaginary letter the book version of Harry had concocted in his head. 'Dumbledore would want to hear about it.'

Harry merely shrugged in response. He couldn't fathom why someone of Dumbledore's stature would care that much about it - about him.

'Oi!' Ron cried out indignantly, his hand automatically coming up to touch his nose as Remus read out the description of Book-Ron.

'Sorry,' Harry said, unsure of what else to say. 'If it helps, _I_ didn't write it.'

'Future you did.'

'Sorry, mate. I - er - won't do it again.' This was causing his head to hurt.

'No one in the family is going to think that about you,' said Ron sincerely at Book-Harry's anxiety that the Weasley family would think he's being ridiculous over a few seconds worth of pain. 'Mum worries about you all the time. I think she would adopt you if she could.'

' _... about the Quidditch World Cup..._ '

'You're definitely coming to that, mate. You too, Hermione. Dad always gets us tickets from work.'

Harry grinned at his best friend. Quidditch was his favourite sport and the Weasleys were his favourite family - the summer was looking up already!

The smile soon faded from Harry's face, as Remus read the next paragraph. Book-Harry was craving a parental figure to talk to - an adult he could open up to without feeling stupid. He had lacked a person for his entire life. There weren't even any teachers he could turn to as the Dursleys had managed to convince hem that Harry was simply acting out due to the trauma of losing his parents.

Not that he would ever admit it to his face, but Harry was incredibly envious of Ron. Malfoy and his cronies could make fun of Ron and the Weasleys all they wanted but what they lacked in financial status, they more than made up for it in heart and love for one another. Harry would give anything to have his mother wipe away the dirt from his nose, or make him sandwiches for the train ride to Hogwarts, even if they were filled with a topping he didn't particularly care for. His heart ached for that more than anything else in this world.

Now, thanks to these books, the entire room was aware of how much Harry desired this. Being an orphan either made people walk on eggshells around him with pity in their eyes, or they would ridicule him for being all alone. At this rate, before they were finished reading the books, Harry was certain they would all know him better than he would even know himself. There would be nothing personal to him anymore - the books had stolen his privacy.

'There's no shame in it, Harry,' Sirius whispered, vowing to have a long talk with his godson once they had a chance to speak privately later on. 'There's no shame whatsoever. Remus and I are here for you. Just know that you can come to us with anything and I mean absolutely anything.'

Harry was grateful that everyone else in the room, including the hated Potions Master, were all feigning interest in anything else other than the conversation between godfather and godson.

Sirius' skipped a beat upon hearing Harry's first thought, when trying to figure out who would fulfill that parental role for him, was Sirius. This book began this coming summer - they wouldn't have known each other long by then, but Harry still felt comfortable coming to him, and that meant more to Sirius than he could ever express. Children had never been high on his priority list, not even before Azkaban, but he was willing to make that exception for Harry.

'Let's all just remember that Wormtail is in custody right now and he's not going anywhere,' Remus pointed out when the book made mention of how Wormtail would have escaped capture by the end of the previous night had it not have been for the sudden appearance of Dobby and the books.

'We're going to be a real family soon,' Sirius promised, although his words felt meaningless at that very moment. He would feel better once he had his own front door to give to Harry. His heart constricted at the thought that both he and Harry having a family had been within arms reach before being cruelly snatched away. Sirius would use his last breath to make sure Harry had everything he ever wanted in life.

Sirius was deep in his thoughts that he almost missed the next part of the book, and was only brought back to reality when Harry asked him -

'What did you do to them?' Harry could not contain the shock from his voice. The book was right when it said the Dursleys had never, ever let him keep all his school things in his bedroom before.

'You forgot to mention Sirius was innocent,' said Remus, a wide grin on his face. Harry was a lot like his father at times. He shook his head fondly and continued reading.

'You know what's strange is I hated the heat. I couldn't stand how bright the sun was and how it was always in your eyes. I guess after spending all that time in the dark, cold prison, somewhere tropical would be nice. Maybe once this is all over we can go on a holiday somewhere.'

Harry's cheeks ached from how wide he was smiling. 'Definitely!'

'Buckbeak?'

'That's Hagrid's Hippogriff,' Hermione explained to a confused Sirius. 'Or at least he was. What with everything that had happened, I completely forgot! We really need to talk to Hagrid.'

'What happened?'

'Draco Malfoy,' Harry spat out. 'Hagrid warned the whole class not to insult a Hippogriff, so what did Malfoy do? He insulted him. Buckbeak attacked him.'

'Serves the little git right!'

'Lucius Malfoy was furious,' said Hermione sadly. 'He called for them to execute Buckbeak. The execution took place the same night we met you.'

'That sounds exactly like Lucius.'

'Do you know him?' Harry asked curiously.

Sirius sighed heavily. 'You could say that. He's married to my cousin.'

'You're related to the Malfoys!'

'Not by choice.'

Harry let the matter drop, sensing that Sirius did not want to talk about it by the harsh tone in his voice. The next time Sirius spoke, not one minute later, his voice was once again soft.

'Promise me you won't leave anything out, no matter how big or small you think it is, especially not where your scar or Voldemort are involved.'

Harry took a deep breath; his chest felt heavy. This was going to take some getting used to.

'Sure... I promise.'

'That was the end of that chapter,' Remus announced. 'Who wants to read next?'

'I will,' Hermione offered, her hands reaching over to take the book from her professor, and cleared her throat once. 'The Invitation.'

* * *

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